THE CRADLE OF 
THE REPUBLIC 

Jamestown and James River 




Seal of Virginia, 1606-1652 (Obverse and Reverse.) 



BY '•\ , 
LYON GARDINER TYLER, LL. D. 

PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY, 
WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA 



RICHMOND, VA. 

The Hermitage Press, Inc. 

1906 



Jiil. 






IliiRARY of CONGREisj 
{ Two Copies Received | 
I FEB 23 190/ j 

4aSS a XXC, No, 
COPY B 



First Edition Copyrighted 

BY 

LYON G. TYLER, 
1900. 



Second Edition Copyrighted 

BY 

LYON G. TYLER, 
1906. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



In giving this book to the public I wish to express my ac- 
knowledgments to Philip Alexander Bruce and Alexander 
Brown for the assistance which they have rendered me through 
their monumental works, The Economic History of Jlrginia 
ill the Seventeenth Century and The First Republic in America. 
My sincere thanks are also due to H. B. Smith, of the city of 
Williamsburg, who aided me very materially in preparing the 
charts of Jamestown Island and James River, and to Robert 
Lee Traylor, of Richmond, who placed his library at my ser- 
vice, and aided in correcting the proof-sheets. 

Lyon G. Tyler. 
Williamsburg, Va., May 14, 1900. 



Ill 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



The first edition of this work was the first serious attempt 
to deal with the topographical history of Jamestown and 
James River. As the pioneer work, it did not escape some 
serious errors, which I am now able to correct by access to 
two new sources of information — the collection of manu- 
scripts lately purchased by the Library of Congress from a 
member of the Ambler family, and the excellent monograph 
The Site of Old Jaiiiesfozviie, compiled by Samuel H. Yonge, 
who, as engineer under the direction of the United States 
Engineer Department, had charge of the erection of the water 
guard now protecting the western end of Jamestown Island. 

The Ambler collection in the Library of Congress com- 
prises several charts and many original patents, deeds, and 
leases, covering a long period of time from 1640 to 1809, and 
show'ing the location of many lots and the gradual consolida- 
tion of the Island property into a few hands. 

In his monograph, The Site of Old Jaiiiestozviie, Mr. Yonge 
has accurately fixed many details of the ancient habitations, 
and it would not now be a difficult matter to reconstruct James^ 
town in wood and brick just as it stood in 1676. It is gratify- 
ing that much of the author's identification of localities has 
received the endorsement of Mr. Yonge. Passmore's Creek, 
Black Point, Pitch and Tar Swamp, Block House hill, 
" Friggett Landing," the glass house, etC;, were all unknown 
quantities, until they were placed upon the map in " The 
Cradle of the Republic." My chief mistake con- 
sisted in following too literally Mr. Richard Randolph, who, 
citing the authority of the records of James City County 
court, put the body of the town west of the old church tower. 
Under this impression as to the situation of the town, while I 
properly located the first state house on the southern shore, 
I placed it west instead of east of the church tower. I was 
more correct in regard to the third and fourth state houses, 

v 



vi Preface to the Second Edition. 

which I placed on what Mr. Yonge calls the " third ridge," 
referred to in the first edition of this book as the " first ridge," 
i. e. the first ridge to the north of the plateau fronting the 
river, named " fourth ridge " by Mr. Yonge. See Cradle 
OF the Republic, ist. ed., 19, 40, 59, 116, and index 174. 
To avoid confusion, I have followed the old style, which 
was ten days behind the new ; except that I have made the 
years run from January i instead of March 25, as was cus- 
tomary with our English ancestors, wdio dated events between 
January i and March 25, as of the previous year. 

Lyon G. Tyler. 
Williamsburg, Va., May 14, 1906. 



CONTENTS 



I. New Foundland and Roanoke r 

II. Colonies of the London and Plymouth Companies 7 

III. The Indians Along James River^. 1 1 

IV. The Island of Jamestown '. 22 

V. The English at Jamestown 30 

VI. The Fort 109 

VII. The Church 116 

VIII. Block Houses 150 

IX. The Glass House IS3 

X. The Governor's House 158 

XL The State House 164 

XII. Social Conditions 181 

XIII. Political Conditions 197 

XIV. Origin and History of Places Along James River 201 

Appendix . . 255, 



Vll 



THE CRADLE OF THE REPUBLIC. 



NEW FOUNDLAND AND ROANOKE. 

The settlements at Roanoke and Jamestown were the fruits 
of England's rivalry with Spain. During the latter part of the 
fifteenth century, Spain began that development which made 
her for a hundred years the greatest power of the world. In 
1469, Ferdinand V. united the kingdoms of Arragon and 
Castile by his marriage with Queen Isabella, and in 1492 he 
conquered and annexed the kingdom of Granada. Then 
under his auspices occurred the discovery of America by 
Christopher Columbus, and not long afterwards began the 
importation into, Spain of the treasures of Mexico and Peru. 
Ferdinand died in 15 16, and the prestige of Spain Avas im- 
mensely increased by the election of his grandson, King 
Charles I., as emperor Charles V. of Germany. The son of 
Charles, Philip II., who succeeded to the Spanish throne in 
1555, was the mightiest monarch of Europe, being master not 
only of the Spanish peninsula and the New World of the West, 
but of Naples and Milan, the richest and most fertile districts 
in Italy, and of the Netherlands and Flanders, at that time the 
great centre of the world's trade. Moreover, he was the head 
of the dominant religious influence and military power of 
Europe. 

The history of England during this time is the story of the 
rise and development of a small kingdom into a successful rival 
with this gigantic power. Although John and Sebastian Cabot 
had acquired for England in 1497 the glory of being the first 
kingdom to make discovery of the continent of North America 
their enterprise did not reflect the spirit of the English people. 
At the beginning of the sixteenth century English commerce 

[I] 



2 The Cradle of the Republic. 

was of small dimensions. The discovery was not followed up, 
and Sebastian Cabot left England, and enlisted in the service 
of the king of Spain. 

For half a century, only one substantial connection existed 
between England and America. The fisheries on the Banks 
of New Foundland encouraged a few to take long voyages, 
and there gradually grew up in England a band of hardy and 
experienced seamen. 

Meanwhile, the Protestant reformation swept over Europe, 
and in 1534 Henry VHI. disavowed allegiance to the Pope, 
and asserted his supremacy of the Anglican Church. Thus 
England gradually became the champion of the Protestant 
cause as opposed to Spain, who represented the Catholic 
Church. About the same time as Henry's quarrel with the 
Pope, industrial activity began in England on a wide scale. 
The treasures of Mexico and Peru, introduced into Spain, 
diverted the people from serious labor into speculative enter- 
prises, and England was called upon to supply Spain and her 
American possessions with most of their clothing and other 
manufactured goods. 

In 1549, this widely spread activity of the English people 
struck out boldly from the shores. The new era began with 
the return of the grand old seaman, Sebastian Cabot, from 
Spain, where he had been for many years. He was made 
grand pilot of England, and under his auspices a company for 
discovery was formed to create new lines of commerce with 
foreign countries. Fear of Spain caused the energies of this 
company to be employed during the reigns of Edward VI. and 
Queen Mary in creating trade relations with Eastern countries 
rather than with the Western Continent. Russia was dis- 
covered, and lines of commerce were speedily established with 
Barbary, Persia and Turkey. But when in 1558 Elizabeth 
ascended the throne, a spirit more daring than ever before 
prevailed in England, which found expression in the career 
of the bold Sir John Hawkins, the first to throw down the 
barriers withholding English ships from this continent. He 
carried negro slaves from Guinea, and contrary to the laws of 
Spain, who wanted the slave trade all to herself, entered into 
a profitable communication with the West India planters. 



New Foundland and Roanoke. 




His example was followed by the great seaman, Sir 
Francis Drake, who, in 1 577-1 580, visited the west coast 
of the South American 
continent, plundered the 
Spanish settlements, and 
in his ship, loaded with 
treasure, circumnavigated 
the globe. The spirit 
of adventure became gen- 
eral, and Drake's exploits 
were repeated by Sir 
Thomas Cavendish, while 
Sir Martin Frobisher and 
Captain John Davis per- 
formed their glorious voy- 
ages to the northwest and 
left their names upon the 
icy waters of Labrador and 
British America. queen Elizabeth, 1558-1603 

Scarcely less adventurous, but of far higher purpose, was 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, of Devonshire, who conceived the 
noble design of planting an English colony in America, as 
the best means of weakening Spain and promoting the grand- 
eur of England. In 1578, he obtained from Queen Elizabeth 
a patent of colonization — which gave him full power to in- 
habit and fortify all lands, not yet possessed by any Christian 
prince or people. Under this charter he attempted two ex- 
peditions to New Foundland, both of which proved futile and 
in the second of which he lost his life. His last words as 
his ship went down will ever be kept in precious remembrance : 
" We are as near to Heaven by sea as by land." 

Sir Walter Raleigh renewed the undertaking for which his 
heroic half-brother Gilbert had sacrificed his life. After send- 
ing out an exploring party in 1584, he dispatched in 1585 
an expedition to Roanoke Island in North Carolina under 
a brave soldier named Captain Ralph Lane with 108 settlers. 
These were of that daring, pushing material of which the 
pioneers of the world have ever been made, but the example 
of the Spaniards disposed them to despise stock rais- 
ing and to rest their hopes of a plantation upon the discovery 



4 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



of a gold mine or the South Sea. Consequently, when neither 
was found, they became discouraged and returned to England. 
Then Raleigh sent out in 1587 a new expedition under Captain 
John White, consisting of 150 settlers, of whom seventeen were 
women and nine were children. 

They intended to go to Chesapeake Bay, but the pilot would 

not take them there ; and 
so they settled again on 
Roanoke Island. Four 
weeks after their land- 
ing. Governor White's 
daughter Eleanor, wife 
of Ananias Dare, one 
of his coimcillors, was 
delivered of a daughter, 
and she was christened 
Virginia, because she 
was the first Christian 
child born in Virginia 
— a name given by 
Queen Elizabeth to all 
North America. By 
unanimous- consent. 
White was sent back to England to hasten on the supplies, but 
a weary time passed before he succeeded in returning to his 
charge. 

When he reached home in November, 1587, he found all 
England in a ferment over the expected attack of the Span- 
iards, who had collected a large army and an enormous fleet 
for the subjugation of England. In 1588, a great naval battle 
was fought in the English Channel with the Spanish Armada, 
and the English under Lord Charles Howard, assisted by 
Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins, Cavendish, Frobisher, and Lane 
won a great victory, the most fortunate in the annals of the 
world ; as it saved not only England, but North America, to 
the English. 

It was not until 1591, more than three years after his return 
home, that White was able to carry assistance to his friends in 
Virginia. But when he reached Roanoke, he found no sign 
of the colonists except the word Croatoan engraved upon a 




SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. 



New Foundland and Roanoki 



tree at the fort. The ships weighed anchor for this place, 
v/hich was a sandy island on the outer coast of North CaroHna ; 
but a storm arose, and the crew, becoming afraid to Hnger 
longer during that dangerous season of the year, not only 
refused to go to Croatoan, but returned to England. 

This was a sad ending of the voyage, but Raleigh sent out 
ships and kept up the search for eleven years longer ; yet some- 
how it was the same old story of misfortune, and no word came 
from the lost colony. Years afterwards, when Jamestown was 
settled, some Indians who professed to know the Roanoke 
colonists related that, after living at Croatoan till about 
the time of the arrival 
of the colony on James 
River, they were cruelly 
massacred at the insti- 
gation of Powhatan, only 
seven of them — four 
men, two boys, and a 
young maid — being pre- 
served from slaughter by 
a friendly chief. ^ 

Despite their reverses, 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert 
and Sir Walter Raleigh 
will always be esteemed 
the true parents of North 
American colonization. 
They are glorious twan 
spirits who stand on the ^^^ walter raleigh. 

threshold of American history. If the one started the idea 
and sacrificed his fortune and his life for it, the other popular- 
ized it be3^ond any other man. It was through Raleigh's enter- 
prise that two of the products of that country — the potato 
and tobacco were popularized in England, and to him is due 
the ultimate selection of the Chesapeake Bay region as the 
proper place of settlement. Raleigh never lost hope in 
America, and in 1603, just before his confinement in the 
Tower, he wrote to Sir Robert Cecil regarding the rights 
which he had in that country, and used these memorable 
words : " I shall yet live to see it an English nation." 

1 Strachey, Travailc into Virginia, 26, 85. 




6 The Cradle of the Republic. 

HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 

I 492- I 602. 

From the discovery of America (1492) to Samuel Mace's voyage (1602) 

Oct. 12, 1492. — Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. 

June 24,1497. — John Cabot and Sebastian, his son, discover North 
America. 

1549. — Sebastian Cabot made grand pilot of England, and 
organizes a company of discovery. 

1562. — Sir John Hawkins opens the way to America by en- 
gaging in the Slave trade with the Spanish Planters 
in the West Indies. 

1572-1580. — Sir Francis Drake ravages the Spanish settlements in 
South America, and sails around the world. 

1576-1578. — Sir Martin Frobisher's explorations of the Northeast 
coast of North America. 

Nov. 19, 1578. — Sir Humphrey Gilbert leaves Plymouth, England, upon 
his first voyage to plant a colony in America. 

June II, 1583. — He leaves Plymouth on his second voyage to America. 

Sept. 10, 1583. — He is drowned at sea. 

April 27, 1584. — Sir Walter Raleigh sends Arthur Barlow and Philip 
Amidas from England to explore America for the 
seat of a colony. 

April 9,1585. — Raleigh's first colony to Roanoke Island, under Cap- 
tain Ralph Lane, leaves Plymouth, England. 

1585-1587. — Captain John Davis explores the waters of Labrador, 
and discovers Davis's Strait. 

July 21, 1586. — Thomas Cavendish sails to plunder the Spanish settle- 
ments on the west coast of South America, and cir- 
cumnavigates the world. 

May 8,1587. — Raleigh's second colony under Captain John White 
leaves Plymouth, England. 

July 29 I 1588. — Defeat of the Spanish Armada in the English Channel 
Aug. 7 ) by the English fleet under Lord Charles Howard. 

March, 1591. — Captain John White goes in search of "The Lost 
Colony " of Roanoke Island. 

1596. — Victory of the English fleet under Lord Howard in 
the harbor of Cadiz. 

1602. — Voyage of Samuel Mace, sent by Sir Walter Raleigh, 
in search of " The Lost Colony." 



II. 



COLONIES OF THE LONDON AND PLYMOUTH COMPANIES. 

Sir Walter Raleigh was executed in 1618 upon an absurd 
charge of conspiring against King James, but he lived long 
enough to be comforted by the realization of his confident 
hope of an English nation in Virginia. From 1602 to 1605 
Bartholomew Gosnold, Martin Pring and George Weymouth 
conducted exploring expeditions to the coast of New England 
and brought back good accounts of the country ; and in 
the latter year Spain, 
humbled and shorn of 
power, made peace with 
England. Relieved of 
their fear of Spain the 
English people once more 
directed their energies to 
the settlement of Ameri- 
ca ; but now, in the place 
of private enterprises 
like Gilbert's and Ra- 
leigh's, organized capi- 
tal undertook the solu- 
tion of the problem. 
Raleigh could not take 
an active part, but his 
friends and relations ^^^^^ J^^^^^ ^■' 1603-1624. 

were foremost in the new colonization schemes. Two large 
associations were formed, one composed of knights and mer- 
chants of London, and the other of persons resident in the 
cities of Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth ; and they obtained 
from King James in 1606 a joint charter, which defined 
Virginia as the portion of North America lying between 
the 34th and 45th parallels of north latitude — practically 
the present United States. In this vast extent of country, 
the company first named, called the London Company, was 
permitted to establish a settlement anywhere between 34 and 
41 degrees; and the second, called the Plymouth Company, 
anywhere between 38 and 45 degrees. The actual juris- 

[7] 




The Cradle of the Republic. 



diction of each company was represented by a rectangle 
extending north and south of the place of settlement lOO 
miles, and east and west lOO miles inland and loo miles to sea. ^ 
Neither the company nor the colonists were to have any 
share in the government, but the management of both sections 
of Virginia, including the very limited grants to the companies, 
was conferred upon one royal council, which was to name a 
local council for each of the colonies in America ; and both 
superior and subordinate councils were to govern " according 
to laws, ordinances, and instructions " to be given by the king. 
These "laws, &c." when issued provided that the property 
of the two companies should be held in a " joint stock," and 
the local councils were authorized to elect or remove their 
presidents, to remove any of their members, to supply their 
own vacancies, and to decide all cases occurring in the colony 
civil as well as criminal not affecting life or limb." 

The Plymouth Company, in August, 1606, sent out exploring 
ships, and in May, 1607. they dispatched a colony to the 
mouth of the Kennebec in Alaine, but after a \Mnter of great 

severity these emigrants 
abandoned their settle- 
ment and returned to 
England. The single 
product of their stay in 
jMaine was the pinnace 
Virginia, the first ship 
built by Englishmen in 
America, and which was 
destined three years 
later in the South Vir- 
ginia colony to perform 
a memorable part.^ 

The expedition of the 
London Company was 
more successful. It con- 
sisted of three vessels — 
the Sarah Constant of 100 tons, the Godspeed of 40 tons and 

-66. 




SIR THOMAS SMITH, 
First treasurer, or president, of the 
London Company 



1 Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 57- 

2 Ibid.. I., 67-76. 

2 Strachey, Travaile into J'irginia, 162-180. 



The London and Plymouth Companies. 9 

the Discovery of 20 tons, commanded respectively by Chris- 
topher Newport, Bartholomew Gosnold and John Ratcliffe — 
old sailors renowned for discovery and daring. The ships 
carried 104 men and the crews, and among the leading 
men, besides the three named, were Edward Maria Wingfield, 
who had served gallantly in the Low Countries ; George 
Percy, brother to the Earl of Northumberland, who had been 
trained also in that school of war ; John Smith, already dis- 
tinguished for a career of romance and adventure ; George 
Kendall, a cousin of Sir Edwin Sandys ; Gabriel Archer, a 
lawyer and member of Gosnold's expedition to New Eng- 
land in 1602 ; John Martin, who was commander of one of the 
vessels in Drake's voyage in 1585-1586; and Rev. Robert 
Hunt, a pious and exemplary minister, recommended by 
Richard Hakluyt, the naval historian of England and friend 
of Sir Walter Raleigh. 

The expedition left London December 20, 1606, but, as the 
colonists went by way of the West Indies, they were four 
months on the voyage. In the West Indies, Smith and Wing- 
field had a quarrel, and the latter charged Smith with plotting 
mutiny, so that he was arrested and confined till some weeks 
after Virginia was reached. 

April 26, 1607, they saw the capes of Virginia, and some of 
them landing at Cape Henry were fiercely assaulted by 
Indians, who wounded Gabriel Archer and Mathew Morton. 
That night the sealed box which contained the names of the 
councillors was opened, and they w^ere found to be Wingfield, 
Gosnold, Newport, Smith, Ratcliffe, Martin and Kendall. 

April 29, they set up a cross at Cape Llenry, and next day 
visited the Indian town of Kecoughtan, on the east side of 
Hampton River, after which Captain Newport and some of the 
settlers coasted in a shallop up the main river in advance of 
the ships, seeking a place of settlement. They went as far as 
Appomattox River, and, May 12, returned to the ships. The 
same day they discovered a point of land, which they called 
Archer's Hope in honor of Captain Gabriel Archer ; and " if 
it had not been disliked because the ships could not ride neare, 
we had settled there to all the colonies contentment." On the 
next day the ships came to the west end of a peninsula in the 



10 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



Paspahegh country five miles above Archer's Hope, which 
they chose for a place of settlement and called it Jamestown, 
in honor of James I., king of England. 



HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 

I 602- I 607. 

From the voyage of Bartholoinezv Gosnold (1602) to the settlement at 
Jamestozvn Island (1607). 

March 26, 1602. — Bartholomew Gosnold and Bartholomew Gilbert sail 
from Falmouth, England, to the New England coast. 

,. — Captain Pring sails to visit the New England coast. 
Voyage of Captain George Weymouth to the Kennebec 

River. 
• Charter granted to the Plymouth and London Com- 
panies by King James I. 

Henry Challons sent out by the Plymouth Company 
on a trial voyage. 

Trial voyage of Thomas Hanham and Martin Pring. 

■ The colony sent out by the London Company leaves 
London. 

They anchor at the Downs. 

1607. — They leave the coast of England. 

'. — They reach the Virginia coast. 

■. — They reach Jamestown Island. 



ivxcu 1^1 

April 


10, 


1603.- 


March 31, 


1605. 


April 


10. 


1606. 


Aug. 


12, 


1606.- 


Oct., 




1606. 


Dec. 


20, 


1606. 


Jan. 


5. 


1607. 


About Feb. 8, 


April 


26, 


1607. 


May 


13, 


1607. 




COAT-OF-ARMS OF THE LONDON COMPANY.. 



III. 

THE INDIANS ALONG JAMES RIVER. 

At the time of the arrival of the Enghsh in Virginia, the 
Indians inhabiting the Tide-water section were united in a 
confederacy, of which Powhatan was the head war-chief or 
werowance. They belonged to the Algonquin race, and were 
far less barbarous than the wild inhabitants of the Mississippi 
region. Each tribe had a territory defined by natural bounds, 
and they lived on rivers and creeks in fixed villages, consisting 
of huts called wigwams, oval in shape, and made of bark set 
upon a frame-work of saplings. Sometimes their houses were 
of great length accommodating many families at once, and at 
Uttamussick in the peninsula formed by the Pamunkey and 
Mattapony were three such structures sixty feet in length, 
where the Indians kept the bodies of their dead werowances 
under the care of seven priests or medicine men. Near every 
wigwam there was a cleared spot, in which corn, tobacco, 
gourds, pumpkins, beans and cymlings were planted. The 
tribes received their werowances from Powhatan, and these 
petty werowances numbered in all about thirty-four. 

On the south side of Chesapeake Bay the Chesapeake 
Indians had their cornfields and villages. It would appear 
from Strachey that they were new-comers in that region, and 
successors of others who had fallen victims to the jealousy and 
cruelty of Powhatan. " It is not long since," says^ Strachey, 
" that his priests told Powhatan that from the Chesapeake Bay 
a nation should arise which should dissolve and give end to his 
empire, for which not many years since (perplext with this 
divelish oracle and divers understanding thereof), according 
to the ancyent and gentile customs, he destroyed and put to 
sword all such who might lye under any doubtful construccion 
of the said prophesie, as all the inhabitants, the werowance, 
and his subjects of that province." Perhaps it was the memory 
of this event and this prophecy that made the Indians in the 

1 For accounts of the Indians in Virginia see Smith, Works (Arber's 
ed.), 47-82, 360-378; Spelman, in Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), cv-cxiv ; 
Strachey, Travailc into Virginia, 44-114; Beverley, History of Virginia 
(Campbell's reprint, 1855), 126-185. 

[Ill 



12 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Chesapeake region So quick to resent the landing of the whites 
at Cape Henry, April 26, 1607. 

Above the Chesapeakes, on the same side, were the Nanse- 
monds, governed by four werowances — Weyhohomo, Ama- 
petough, Weyingopo and Tirchtough. Their villages were, 
for the most part, on the Nansemond River, which meant a 
neck "where there was a fishing place" — (Naus-amung). 

Next came the Warrascoyacks residing in the county of 
Isle of Wight. Their chief town was probably near " Old 
Town," on Pagan River, " where a Bay wherein fallcth 3 or 4 
prettie brookes and creekes halfe intrench the inhabitants of 
Warrascoyac,"^ — a word meaning " point of land." At 
Pagan Point there was a small village called Mokete and on 
Burwell's Bay another small village called Mathomank. The 
Werowance was Sasenticum and his son was Kaintu. 

The neighbors of the Warrascoyacks were the Quiyoughco- 
hanocks, whose territory extended through Surry and Prince 
George counties. The werowance was Pepiscumah, called for 
short Pipisco, who kept on good terms with the whites. How- 
ever, in 1610, he had been deposed by Powhatan, and one of 
Powhatan's wives, Oholasc, was queen in the minority of her 
son TatacQpe, who lived at Chawopo with Chopoke. one of 
Pipisco's brothers.- Ouiyoughcohanock was on Upper Chip- 
pokes Creek, near the present Claremont. 

The name " Tapahanah " was for a time wrongfully applied 
to Oui}-oughcohanock by the whites. When in the Spring of 
1607 the Indians in Virginia heard of the arrival of the ships 
in James River, some of them from a distance came to the 
banks of the Jam.es and temporarily established habitations 
there, in order to assist in resisting the landing of the explorers. 
Among these Indians were the chief Tapahanah or Tapa- 
hanock, and a body of his men from the Rappahannock or 
Tappahannock River. The extensive marsh at Brandon, 
famous for its wild ducks, still preserves the evidence of this 
mistake — being known as " Tapahana (Tappahannock) 
marsh." ^ 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 346. 

- Strachey, Travaile into Virginia, 57. In Surry County there was a 
plantation near " Four Mile Tree," called Pipsico, probably an adapta- 
tion of Pipisco. 

^Tooker, Some Pozvhatan A'anicst in American Anthropologist 
(N. S.), VI., No. V. 



The Indians Along the -James River. 



13 




AN INDIAN VILLAGE 



14 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Quiyoughcohanock was one of the ceremonial places of the 
Indians, where the boys intended to be priests or Quiyough- 
quisocks were initiated into the mysteries of their cult. 

Next in order were the Weyanokes, who had towns on both 
sides of the river. Their chief town, situated on the south 
side, was known as " Weanock," or "Wyanoke," or "Wynauk," 
meaning " the going around place " or " place about which the 
river winds itself." A land grant^ issued in 1650 located 
" Weyanoke Old Town " at the head of Powell's creek on 
Flowerdew Hundred plantation. Numerous Indian relics have 
been found there, and earth-works evidently thrown up for 
fortification are still extant. The place in 1705 was known as 
Powhatan town, and there was a ferry connecting it with 
Swineyards on the north side of the James.^ The chief of the 
Weyanokes in 1612 was Kaquothocun. 

Above the Weyanokes were the people of the Appomattox 
country between the river of that name and the James. The 
bestowal of the name on the stream was done by the colonists 
and not by the natives, and the same is true of all the naming 
of rivers noted on Smith's map. In explaining the etymology, 
some have derived it from Apameteku, " a sinuous tidal 
estuary," indicative of the curls in the river at that locality. 
But the eminent anthropologist, William Wallace Tooker, 
explains it as meaning " the resting tree " or " bower," from 
the mulberry tree under which Queen Opussoquionuske, 
sitting on a mat, received the voyagers in 1607. Above the 
Falls of the River resided the hereditary enemies of the Pow- 
hatans — the Manakins or Monacans — on the site of whose 
chief town in Nicholson's administration the French Hugenots 
were established. 

Along the north side of the James River there were several 
tribes, and the first met with was the Powhatans, whose chief 
village stood on a hill opposite to an island about three miles 
from the Falls, and was separated from the river by a meadow 
of 300 acres planted with Indian corn, tobacco, pumpkins, 
gourds and other vegetables. The word Powhatan is derived 
from Powwow-atan meaning the " Powwow hill," or the hill 



1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., X., 25. 

2 Campbell, History of Virginia, 129, note. 



The Indians Along the James River. 15 

where the great chief held his powwows. Here Powhatan was 
born, but at the coming of the English the werowance at the 
Falls was Parahunt, one of Powhatan's sons, called Tanx 
Powhatan, " Little Powhatan." 

Below the Powhatans were the Arrohatecks, whose chief 
town was just above the Dutch Gap Canal, in Henrico County, 
opposite Proctor's Creek, in Chesterfield County. A farm in 
that quarter, owned by the Cox family for many years, still 
retains the Indian name. The word Arrohateck is cognate 
with Xatick ahaiieJitaii " he laughs at him," and the idea is 
expressed in "Arrohatecks Joy " applied by Gabriel Archer to 
the village of the Indian werowance xA-shuaquid.^ 

Adjoining them was the territory of the Weyanokes, whose 
chief town was, however, on the south side of the river as 
already observed. 

Next to the Arrohateck Country was the territory of the 
Paspahegh Indians, from about Sturgeon Point, in Charles 
City County, to Skiffes Creek, in James City County. As 
Jamestown was in this district, these Indians and their chief 
Wowinchopunk were brought into more important relations 
with the whites than any other of the tribes. Their chief town 
was formerly about a mile from the Island called " Old Pas- 
paheghs," but at the time of the coming of the English, 
Wowinchopunk resided at Sandy Point, nearly opposite to 
Quiyoughcohanock. The etymology of the term Paspahegh 
had reference to the mouth of the Chickahominy, which 
opened into the James in the Paspahegh territory. The same 
term was applied to the mouth of the Connecticut River, and 
in the Indian deed for Gardiner's Island we find " Pashpes- 
hauks als Saybrook Forte ; " while on Long Island it occurs 
as " Puspatick, a locality at the mouth of a creek." 
" Paspeiouk " meant land " at the flowing out," or at a 
stream's mouth. 

Finally, near the mouth of the James was the district of the 
Kecoughtans — a word which meant " great town," identical 
with the Natick " Keihtotan." Some years before the English 
arrived, the Kecoughtan tribe was very powerful, and their 
country was sometimes the seat of as many as a thousand 

1 Tooker, in WiUiam and Mary Coll. Quart., XIV., 62. 



i6 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Indians and three hundred houses. There was a large open 
district in the neighborhood of nearly two or three thousand 
acres, and the fishing was excellent. Powhatan regarded the 
power of the tribe with suspicion, and while things were in 
confusion, on account of the death of the old Kecoughtan 
werowance, he suddenly invaded the territory, killed the new 
chief and most of the tribe, and transported the survivors over 
the York, where he quartered them with his own people. 
After much suit, these survivors obtained from him the 
country of Pianketank, in Mathews County, which country 
he likewise dispeopled in 1608. When Captain Smith and his 
company, in January, 1609, visited Werowocomoco, they saw 
the scalps of the unfortunate Pianketanks hanging on a line 
between two trees. In the room of the former inhabitants at 
Kecoughtan, Powhatan placed his son Pochins and some of 
his own men on whom he could rely ; and at the arrival of the 
English their chief village was on the left side of Hampton 
River, near the Soldier's Home.^ 

The fighting strength of these Indian tribes was esti- 
mated by Strachey, as follows: Chesapeakes, too warriors; 
Nansemonds, 200 ; Warrascoyacks, 60 ; Tapahanas, or 
Quiyoughcohanocks, 60; Weyanokes, 100; Appomattocos, 
120 ; Powhatans, 50 ; Arrohatecks, 60 ; Paspaheghs, 40 ; and 
Kecoughtans, 30 — in all, 820 warriors. 

Close by, on the York River, were numerous other tribes, 
the nearest of whom were the Chiskiacks, two miles above 
Yorktown under their werowance, Ottahotin. The name of 
the tribe meant " wide land," " broad place," and is quite de- 
scriptive of the locality where the Indians resided, which is 
still known as " Indian Fields." Upon the Pamunkey River, 
a branch of the York, were the villages of Powhatan's three 
brothers, Opitchapan, Opechancanough and Kecatough. 

Along the Chickahominy, where there were fine bottom 
lands, lived a tribe of three hundred fighting men, who, while 
they paid tribute to Powhatan, did not receive any werowances 
from him, but were governed by their priests, assisted by 
their old men, whom they called Cawcawwassoughes. Ac- 

1 Strachey, Travaile into Virginia Britannia, 60, 61 ; Smith, Works 
(Arber's ed.), 378. 



The Indians Along the James River, 17 

cording to Mr. Tooker, Chickahominy was not a place name, 
but the designation of a people who contributed corn to the 
colonists, thus saving them from starvation. He gives its 
etymology as Cliick-aJiam-inin-anaugh " coarse pounded corn 
people " or in brief " hominy people."' 

The extent of Powhatan's dominions was greater than any 
of his predecessors in authority ever had. He had inherited 
only the countries of Powhatan, Arrohateck, Appomattox, 
Pamunkey, Youghtamund and Mattapanient ; but he had by 
craft and arms extended his dominions till they included all 
the country from the Roanoke River on the south to a pali- 
saded town called Tockwogh, standing at the head of Chesa- 
peake Bay, in forty degrees north latitude, or thereabouts. He 
was known among the Indians in 1607 as Powhatan from the 
place of his birth at the Falls, but his proper name was Wa- 
hunsenacawh. He had other titles, and the Indiums sometimes 
referred to him as Ottaniack and sometimes as Mannatowick, 
which last signified " Great King." He had several " seates 
or houses," but his chief abode, ^ when the whites came into 
the country, was upon the north side of York River at Portan 
Bay (i, e, Poetan or Powhatan Bay), fifteen or sixteen miles 
from West Point. On the earliest chart of York River (Tin- 
dall's chart), the place is called Poetan, but it was generally 
known as Werowocomoco, meaning the house of the wero- 
wance, or " Kings-house," as Strachey says. In 1609, becom- 
ing uneasy at the neighborhood of the whites, he removed to 
a place " at the top of the river Chickahomania between Yought- 
amund (Pamunkey) River and Powhatan (James) River."" 
This new seat was called Orapaks, being a combination of 
Oro " solitary " and paks (peakes) " a little water place," aptly 
descriptive of " White Oak Swamp " near Richmond. 

This terrible old chief was over seventy years old, when the 
English first intruded upon his dominions. He bore his years 
well ; and in stature he was tall and powerfully framed. His 
thin grey hair floated over his broad shoulders, and his counte- 
nance was furrowed and melancholy. He had a round face 
and some few hairs upon his chin and upper lip. He had a 

1 Strachey, Travaile into Virginia, 49. 

2 William and Mary Coll. Quart., X., 2-4. 



i8 The Cradle of the Republic. 

regular system of finance, and an organized force of tax- 
gatherers, whom he sent around regularly to make collec- 
tions. His laws on the subject were rigid and despotic. 
Every werowance had to pay Powhatan eighty per cent, of all 
the commodities which his country yielded or the chase 
afforded; " insomuch that they dared not dress a single deer- 
skin or put it on until Powhatan had seen and refused it." 

To enforce his commands, he kept about him fifty of the 
choicest men in his kingdom, who were always ready for war. 
As he knew no mercy or compassion for those who offended 




PORTAN BAY. 



him, the werowances everywhere groveled before him in 
abject terror. He had a dozen wives, whose names, as they 
stood in his affection, were : 



Winganuske 
Ashetoiske 
Amopotoiske 
Ottopomtacke 



Attosomiske 
Ponnoiske 
Appomosiscut 
Appimmoiske 



Ortoughnoiske 
Oweroughwough 
Ottermiske 
Memeoughquiske 



In 1 6 12, Powhatan had living twenty sons and twelve 
daughters including the celebrated Pocahontas, " the nonpareil 
of her race." The succession of the government, however, 



The Indians Along the James River. 19 

was not to his children but to his three brothers and to his 
sisters, and after them to the heirs male and female of his 
eldest sister, but never to the heirs of his brothers. So when 
Powhatan died in April, 1618, he was succeeded by his brother 
Opitchapan, who, like Powhatan, had several other names : 
Taughaiten, Itopatin, Istan, Sassapen, etc. ; and after the latter's 
death the chief authority was held by the able and ferocious 
Opechancanough, whose name meant " the white hair man ;" 
probably from the white robe of fur about his shoulders.^ He 
planned the massacres of 1622 and 1644; and when he died in 
1646, he was succeeded by Necotowance, probably son of the 
eldest sister. Then came the Queen of Pamunkey of the 
" blood royal," who was living in 1676, at which time her au- 
thority had shrunk to a command of the Indians in Pamunkey 
Neck. A fragment of her tribe still exists on a reservation 
near West Point, and they regularly elect a chieftain. 

The religion of these Tide-water Virginia Indians, like that 
of all the other Indians formerly found on the coast, consisted 
in a belief in a great number of devils, who were to be warded 
ofif by powwows and conjurations. Captain Smith gives an 
account of a conjuration to which he was subjected at Utta- 
mussick when a captive in December, 1607. At daybreak, 
they kindled a fire in one of the long houses and by it seated 
Captain Smith. Soon the chief priest, hideously painted, be- 
decked with feathers, and hung with skins of snakes and 
weasels, came skipping in, followed by six others similarly 
arrayed. Rattling gourds and chanting most dismally, they 
marched about Captain Smith, the chief priest in the lead and 
trailing a circle of meal, after which they marched about him 
again and put down at intervals little heaps of corn of five or 
six grains each. Next they took some little bunches of sticks 
and put one between every two heaps of corn. These pro- 
ceedings, lasting at intervals for three days, were punctuated 
with violent gesticulations, grunts, and a great rattling of 
gourds." 

The Indian men occupied themselves, for the most part, in 
hunting and fishing, and the women tended the crops and did 
the housework, but both sexes were very fond of dancing and 

1 Tooker MS. 

2 Tyler, England in America, 45, 46. 



20 The Cradle of the Republic. 

revelling. During- the visit to Werowocomoco in January, 
1609, Captain Smith was witness to a very charming scene, in 
which Pocahontas was the leading actor. While the English 
were sitting upon a mat near the fire, they were startled by 
loud shouts, and a party of Indian girls came out of the woods 
strangely attired. Their bodies were painted, some red, some 
white, and some blue. Pocahontas carried a pair of antlers 
on her head, an otter's skin at her waist and another on her 
arm, a quiver of arrows at her back, and a bow and arrow in 
her hand. Another of the band carried a sword, another a 
club, and another a pot-stick, and all were horned as Poca- 
hontas. Casting themselves in a ring about the fire, they 
danced and sang for the space of an hour, and then with a 
shout departed into the woods as suddenly as they came.^ 

The Indians had their love songs, wdiich they sang wuth 
some idea of tune, and they had also their angry and scornful 
songs against the Tassantassees, as they called the English, 
one of which is given by Strachey.^ It celebrates an attack 
upon the English at the Falls of the James River in 1610, 
when Lord Delaware sent an expedition from Jamestown to 
search the country above the Falls for gold mines. In this 
attack Lord Delaware's nephew. Captain William West, was 
killed and Simon Skore, a sailor, and one Cobb, a boy, were 
taken prisoners. The song was as follows : 

Matanerew shashashewaw erawango pechecoma 
Whe Tassantassa inoshashaw yehockan pocosack. 
Whe whe yah haha nehe wittowa wittowa. 

Matanerew shashashewaw erawango pechecoma 
Capt. Newport inoshashaw neir inhoc natian matassan. 
Whe whe yah haha nehe wittowa wittowa. 

Matanerew shashashewaw erawango pechecoma 

iThom Newport inoshashaw neir inhoc natian monacock. 

Whe whe yah haha nehe wittowa wittowa. 

Matanerew shashashewaw erawango pechecoma 
Pochin Simon inoshashaw ningon natian monacock. 
Whe whe yah haha nehe wittowa wittowa. 

The W'Ords of the song boasted that the Indians had killed 
the English in spite of their guns (pocosack) and copper 

1 Tyler, England in America, 48. 

2 Strachey, Travaile into Virginia, 79, 80. 



The Indians Along the James River. 



21 



(matassun), meaning the copper crown which Captain New- 
port had presented to Powhatan (hoping thereby to secure his 
friendship) ; that Thomas Newport (that is, Thomas Savage, 
whom Captain Newport had given to Powhatan, calling him 
his son) had not frightened them with his sword (monacock) ; 
and neither had Simon Skore's weapon saved him from 
capture. The ivhe zvhe of the chorus made mock lamentation 
over the death of Simon Skore, whom they tortured ; and the 
words yah halm nehe zvittozva ivittozva conveyed a jeering, 
laughing commentary upon the English lack of fortitude under 
torment. 

In the Powhatan name for A'irginia occurs one of the few 
instances in which is found an Indian name applied to a 
country so extensive. It was called by them "Attanough- 
komouck," meaning " land enclosed for producing or grow- 
ing," and so by free translation " a plantation," in which sense 
it was perhaps understood by the Virginia colonists.^ 

1 Tooker, The Poivhatan name for J'irginia, in American Anthrobo- 
logist (N. S.) VIII. No. I. 




AN INDIAN WEROWANCE. 



IV. 

THE ISLAND OF JAMESTOWN. 

Jamestown Island lies on the north side of James River, and 
is distant about sixty-eight miles from Richmond and thirty 
miles from the mouth of the river at Newport News. It is 
about two and a half miles in length, and in width varies from 
five hundred yards at its western extremity to a mile and a half 
near its eastern end. The area of the Island, according to a 
recent survey, is about 1,400 acres, much of which is marsh 
land. Its soil is very fertile, and produces fine crops of corn 
and wheat. 

It is surrounded on three sides by James River, and on the 
north side by Back River, which separates it from the main- 
land. It is traversed by Pitch and Tar Swamp on its northern 
* part and by Passmore's Creek on its southern part. 

Pitch and Tar Swamp begins at James River at the west 
end, winds around the church tower, passes back of the spot 
where the first state house stood, and, gathering its waters 
as it goes, empties into Back River, through a creek anciently 
known as " Kingsmill's Creek." Branches of the swamp pene- 
trate the Island in many directions, forming numerous little 
ridges ; and one of these branches, known as the *' Orchard 
Run," and entering the river about 700 yards below the church 
tower, was originally the eastern limit of the town. 

Passmore's Creek, named after Thomas Passmore, a car- 
penter, who was living on the Island in 1623. traverses the 
lower end of the Island. It begins at James River, about a 
mile below the present church tower, and runs southeasterly, 
nearly the course of the James, cutting off about one-third of 
the v/hole area of the Island. 

The upper part of the strip of land between this creek and 
the river is known as " Goose Hill." It is composed of seven 
long ridges, about three feet high, made by little slashes of the 
swamp of Passmore's Creek, and running north and south. 

The point at the extreme eastern end is called in the land 
grants " Black Point." 

[22] 



TO 

:HART of JAMESTOWN ISLAND 

A— First ridge of the Island, formerly connected with the mainland by 

a neck. 
B — Second ridge, formerly patented by John Baldwin. 
C— Third ridge, site of the third and fourth state houses, 1665-1698. 
D— Fourth ridge, site of the confederate fort, the brick churches, and 

the Jaquelin-Ambler house, 
a a a — Probable shore line in 1607. 
b b b — Present sea wall, 
d d d — Ancient house foundations. 

1 — Sandy Bay. 

2 — Site of blockhouse. 

3 — "Friggett" Landing. 

4 — Present bridge across Back River. 

5 — Lone cypress, 300 feet from the seawall. 

6 — Site of powder magazine, built in 1697. 

7 — Block of houses composed of the country house, Philip Ludwell's 
three houses, and the State house, 1665-1698. 

8 — ^Robert Beverley's lot, 1G94. 

9 — Richard Lawrence's let, 1676. 
10 — Confederate fort. 
11— Island house brick foundations. 

12 — Landing place May 14, 1607, (signified by a cross). 
13— Brick fort constructed about 1673-1676. 
14 — Confederate fort. 
15 — Church tower. 
16 — Dale's "Bridge" or wharf, 1611. 
17 — First steamboat wharf. 
18 — Second steamboat wharf. 
19 — Third steamboat wharf. 

20— Site of the "old State house" on fourth ridge. 
21— Old turf fort, 1663. 
22 — Ruins of Jaquelin-Ambler house. 

23— Old cart way (1624) over Pitch and Tar swamp to the Island house. 
24 — Confederate fort. 
25 — Travis graveyard. 
26 — Present farm house. 
27 — Confederate fort. 
28— >nfederate fort. 
29—^ d well. 
6', I" 18' — Varying depths of the river channel. 





ESTOWN 
SLAN D 



...-.J^M^K^.^._Ay_f^r/-^^Pfi^'^^ ^IS^" '^"^^'^ ■^'* '^^6- 



The Island of Jamestown. 23 

The western portion of the Island is composed of four 
ridges, the highest of which does not rise over fourteen feet 
above low tide. The first and second ridges are separated by 
a slash of the Back River; the second and third by a slash of 
Pitch and Tar Swamp ; and the third and fourth by a depres- 
sion inclining to Pitch and Tar Swamp from the southern point 
of the Island, which in 1607 projected into the river several 
hundred feet further than it does at present, forming with the 
southern shore a beautiful cove. The western shore extended 
in 1607 about 400 feet beyond the present sea wall, 
and the low ground between the third and fourth ridges 
widened at the head of the Island into a valley, in which a 
brick fort was placed at the close of the century.^ A " lone 
cypress," standing about 300 feet in the water, marks the 
course originally taken by the branch of Pitch and Tar Swamp 
separating the second and third ridges. 

The most important artificial landmarks are the church 
tower, and the ruins of the Jaquelin-Ambler House. Of the 
former I shall have much to say in the succeeding pages, but 
the history of the latter may be conveniently given here. These 
ruins stand on the fourth ridge of the Island about 350 yards 
east of the church tower, in the best part of what was once 
known as New Towne, very near the site of the houses of Sir 
Francis Wyatt, William Peirce and Richard Kempe. The 
Back Street ran close in front, and the turf fort of 1663 lay 
nearly south upon the river. This house was first built by 
Edward Jaquelin about 17 10, and on his death in 1739 passed 
to Richard Ambler, who married his daughter. It was burnt in 
the Revolution and was restored by John Ambler, Richard 
Ambler's grandson. It was burned again in 1862, when the 
country was in the hands of the Federal troops ; and it acci- 
dently caught on fire and was burned a third time in 1895. It 
has not been restored since, but its ragged and massive brick 
walls attest the dignity of the building. 

When the first white settlers came to Virginia in 1607, the 
tract of land thus described, though called an Island, was in 
fact a peninsula, because of an isthmus or neck connecting 
it at the northwest corner with the mainland. The head of 

1 Yonge, Site of Old Jamestownc, 12. I have in this edition named the 
ridges after the more exact designation of Mr. Yonge. 



24 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Back River was then a creek, called Powhatan Creek, which, 
flowing from the country beyond, opened at the neck of the 
Island into a bay called " Sandy Bay." East of this bay, where 
the present bridge spans the Back River, was a landing called 
" Friggett Landing," proving by the name that the Back River 
was navigable for shipping. Further eastward down the 
Back River was a point called " Pyping Point "^ — indicating 
a spot perhaps where the laborers " piped it " (smoked), after 
meals. 

It is interesting to trace the history of the neck since the 
first settlement, for the rush of the waters and the beating of 
the tides have made great changes in the whole western shore 
of the Island. 

Strachey described the isthmus in 1610 "as a slender neck 
no broader than a man will quaite a tileshard." 

Mrs. An. Cotton, evidently referring to the middle of the 
neck, estimated- the width across in 1676 as ten paces (fifty 
feet), but it was orobably more, as in 1688 Rev. John Clay- 
ton put the width (probably of the middle) at sixty or ninety 
feet,^ though he added that during the Spring tides the whole 
of the neck was usually submerged. On the other hand, the 
distance from Back River to James River at Block House hill, 
which was at the beginning of the neck on the Island side, 
was stated in a granf* to William Sherwood in 1694 as " six 
chains" or 198 feet ("33 feet to a chain"). 

We have no further information till the year 1748, fifty- 
four years later, when we learn that, long before that time, 
Richard Ambler, who owned the ferry on the Island, had 
found it necessary to place over the neck a causeway, which the 
relentless waves had so affected that the people of James City 
in the year referred to petitioned the assembly to make 
Ambler repair the same.^ Thirty-three years later, as we 
learn from Tarleton's Caiiipaigus, Jamestown was separated 
from the mainland b}' a small gut " not two feet wide at the 

1 Patent to Richard James, J 'a. Land Register, III., 368. 

2 Oitr Late Troubles in Jlrginia, written in 1676 by Mrs. An. Cotton 
of Q. Creeke. (Force, Tracts, I., No. ix.) 

^A Letter of Mr. John Clayton, rector of Crofton at Wakefield in 
Yorkshire, May 12, 1688. (Force, Tracts, III., No. xii, p. 23.) 

4 Fa. Land Register, VIII., 384. 

5 Council Journal. 



The Island of Jamestown.' 25 

reflux of the tide ; " but that water was now the prevalent 
feature of the spot is shown by the fact that the crossing was 
known at this time as " Jamestown Ford." Nevertheless, 
according to Louis H. Girardin, formerly professor of modern 
languages, history and geography in William and Mary Col- 
lege, a bit of connecting land remained as late as 1805, though 
he spoke of it as " very narrow " and as inundated " at the 
time of high water," /. e. at each high tide ; and further said 
that the force of the river " threatened soon unless counter- 
acted to form a new channel through the Island, a denomina- 
tion which Jamestown may shortly assume."^ 

When we next read of the Island in 1837, we learn that the 
neck " had long since disappeared, having been washed away 
by the force of the current and the tide." ^ 

The Island had passed the year before into the possession of 
Colonel Goodrich Durfey, and he, feeling the necessity of 
better communication with the outside world, constructed about 
1844 a bridge in the water over the submerged neck, and upon 
this bridge passed a stage carrying the mail and passengers to 
the wharf at Jamestown, where the steamer received them.^ 

In 1848, Benson J. Lossing visited the place and found John 
Coke, father of Richard Coke, late senator from Texas, in 
possession. Dr. Lossing made a sketch of the Sandy Bay 
from the opposite shore, then *' four hundred yards " distant 
from the Island, and this view, which is printed, shows the 
piles only of the bridge. The bridge itself, erected by Colonel 
Durfey, had been swept away some months before by a 
tremendous gale and high tide, which submerged a large part 
of the Island, for three days keeping Mr. Coke and his family, 
who resided there, close prisoners, and causing them to use 
for fuel ornamental trees near the house, in the absence of 
other material.^ 

In October, 1856, Bishop Meade, in company with Dr. Silas 
Totten, of William and Mary College, and others, visited the 
Island then owned by Major William Allen, of Clermont. The 
mainland and the Island were found separated by " a third of 

1 The Late Jubilee at Jamestozvn (1807), p. 8, note., 

2 Richard Randolph, in Southern Literary Messenger, III., 303, 

3 Mr. J. R. Bacon's Statement, see Appendix A. 

4 Lossing, Field Book of the American Revolution, II., 446. 



26 The Cradle of the Republic. 

a mile( ?) of water," and the only access was by row-boat. A 
large portion of the most beautiful part of the Island had been 
engulfed by the waves and the bank was giving away within 
150 yards of the old tower to the church.^ 

Now how much land has the Island lost at the upper end 
since the voyagers landed in 1607? In 1716, Hon. Philip Lud- 
well, disturbed by the claims that " the Governor's Land " of 
3,000 acres belonging to the public took in a part of Green- 
spring, said that the shore for three miles above Jamestown,, 
along the mainland, where the Governor's Land was situated, 
had lost by the encroachments of the river 100 acres in a period 
of thirty years, which showed a recession of the shore line of 
more than nine feet a vear.^ 




VIEW OF JAMESTOWN FROM THE RIVER. 

(Sketched in 1857 by Catherine C. Hopley, an English lady.) 

In 1805, Professor Girardin declared that " many yards of 
the palisades erected by the first settlers " were still to be seen 
at low tide standing at least 150 or 200 paces from the shore. 
But really Girardin did not know whether the " first settlers " 
had anything to do with these palisades or not, and he was at 
best only guessing at their distance.^ 

In 1895, the ladies of the Association for the Preservation of 
Virginia Antiquities obtained from Congress an appropriation 

1 Meade, Old Churches, &c., I., in. 

2 Va. Magazine, V., 386. 

3 The Late Jubilee at Jamestown, 7. 



The Island of Jamestown. 27 

of $10,000 for protecting the Island against the encroachment 
of the waters. Large flat rocks were placed at the west end 
against the shore bank, but the waves scooped out the sand 
from behind them and caused them to fall. In five years the 
shore receded by my measurement some fifteen feet, or on the 
average about three feet a year, but the recession was doubtless 
much retarded by the rocks. 

April 28, 1900, the author, in company with Mr. H. B. 
Smith, of Williamsburg, repaired to the western end of James- 
town Island and made some measurements and observations. 
The distance of the " lone cypress tree " from the shore was 
measured and found to be about 290 feet. As this cypress tree 
in 1845 stood at time of low tide at the water's edge, this would 
suggest, after making allowances for our line of measurement 
being out of the perpendicular, a recession annually of about 
five feet. 

Supposing then five feet to be the average annual loss of the 
western shore for 300 years, the diameter of the prism of 
abrasion if continuous would be as much as 1,500 feet, which 
would indicate the absorption of over fifty acres of land. But 
Mr. Yonge points out^ that as long as the protecting shore 
along the mainland above the Island stood firm, the abrasion 
must have been very slight, and that as the protecting shore 
did not begin to give way till about i/oo, twenty acres would 
be a liberal allowance for erosion. This conjecture is supported 
by an interesting plat preserved in the Ambler MSS., and 
made in 1680 by John Soane, surveyor, for William Sherwood. 
As shown by this plat, the difference in length of two lines — 
one from the ancient shore line of 1680 to a northerly line run- 
ning through " Friggett Landing," and the other from the sea 
wall to the same northerly line does not exceed 400 feet, which 
is even less than Mr. Yonge's estimate of the diameter of the 
prism of abrasion (480 ft.). The ravages of the water at first 
appear to have been directed against the connecting isthmus, 
and a comparison of the plat with the present topography 
shows that " Block House hill " stood out in the water 900 feet 
from the present sea wall. As the " lone cypress," now about 
300 feet from the sea wall, was near the shore in 1845, most 
of the erosion of the Island must have happened after that 

1 Yonge, Site of Old Jamestozvn. 14. 



28 The Cradle of the Refublic. 

year — a fact attributable, according to Mr. Yonge, to the 
introduction on the river of side-wheeled steamers. 

At the time of my visit to the Island in 1900, the average 
depth, at low tide, of the water upon the submerged neck was 
found to be about two feet. From the Island to the mainland, 
following the line of the piles, the distance was about 1,700 
feet or nearly one-third of a mile. On the mainland we found 
the bed of the old highway to Williamsburg, with large trees 
growing in its middle. The distance from a tree standing on 
the first ridge along the river side to the southern shore of the 
fourth ridge was found to be very nearly 1,500 feet. From 
the latter point to the middle of the third ridge, it was 300 
feet. On the shore at this place were the last relics of a brick 
building reputed a powder magazine ; and along this ridge 
scattered brick and an old well indicated where some buildings 
once stood. From the middle of the third ridge to the middle 
of the branch of Pitch and Tar Swamp separating the second 
ridge and third ridge, the distance was 361 feet; from the last 
point to the top of the second ridge, it was 339 feet ; and from 
the top of this ridge to a tree on the first ridge near the sub- 
merged neck, it was 500 feet. 

As is shown by various land grants, the general direction of 
the western shore of the Island was approximately the same 
250 years ago as it is today — nearly north and south. 

The James River varies in width from three and one-fourth 
to one and one-eighth miles, corresponding, in the widest 
measurement, to the eastern end of the Island, and, in the 
narrowest, to the western end. The mean tidal rise and fall is 
about two feet, and as might be expected the greatest depth of 
water, eighty-one feet, is in the narrow part of the river, while 
in the widest part opposite to Goose Hill the channel shallows 
to about twenty feet. 

The varying depth of the channel at Jamestown Island has 
had remarkable efi^ect upon the history of Virginia. It was 
because the channel was so deep and approached so near the 
shore at the upper end that the Island itself, and especially 
that part of the Island, was selected for settlement ; and it 
was because the water ofi^ Goose Hill flats did not afford a 
sufficient depth to allow the ironclad Virginia to pass to Rich- 
mond in 1862. that she was blown up by the Confederates off 
Craney Island. 



The Island of Jamestown. 29 

The map of Virginia, engraved by Frederick Bossier from 
actual surveys by James Madison, President of William and 
Mary College (who died in 1812), gives an excellent repre- 
sentation of the topography of Jamestown Island and vicinity, 
but the scale is too small to admit of many details. 



SEA WALL. 

Lately erected at the western end of the Island. 
THE COUNTRY NEIGHBORING JAMESTOWN ISLAND. 

The portion of the country beyond the neck on the west 
side of Powhatan Creek was called The Main. 

The portion of the country on the north side of Back River, 
hetween Powhatan Creek and Mill Creek, which enters the 
Back River from the north at the lower end of the Island, was 
called Neck of Land. This should be carefully distinguished 
from the " neck of land " descriptive of the isthmus formerly 
connecting Jamestown Peninsula with the mainland. 

The country on the north side below the Island, between 
Coleman's Creek and Archer's Hope Creek, was called Archer's 
Hope. 

On the other side of the river a creek known as Gray's 
Creek cut off Szvann's Point, opposite to the Point on James- 
town Island above the church. The early settlements in that 
region were called the Plantations Across the JVater. 

Further up the river on the same side were Four Mile Tree 
and Pace's Pains. 

And down the river nearly opposite to Archer's Hope was 
Hoz Island. 



V. 

THE ENGLISH AT JAMESTOWN, 

May 13, 1607, the Sarah Constant, the Godspeed, and the 
Discovery came to Jamestown Island, and lay " so neare the 
shoare that they were moored to the trees in six fathom 
water." And now the organization of the council was com- 
pleted by the election of Edward Alaria Wingfield as president 
for one year.^ 

The landing- took place the next day, May 14, 1607, at the 
southwest point of the Island, which projected into the water 
about 300 feet more southerly and 400 feet more westerly 
than it does now, forming a cove. As the land there was very 
low, the}> selected for their habitation place the rising bank a 
little east of the ships.- The first work undertaken was to 
clear an opening in the dense growth of trees for a stockade, 
and Avhile it was building Captain Newport, in the shallop, left 
Jamestown May 22, with twenty others, to look for a gold 
mine at the Falls of James River. He was gone only a week, 
but, before he returned, the Indians assaulted the settlement, 
and his assistance was necessary in building the palisades. The 
stockade was completed June 15, was " trianglewise, having 
three bulwarks (one) at every corner like a halfe Moone," and 
in each bulwark a piece or two of ordnance was mounted. It 
enclosed a little more than an acre of land, for the side facing 
the river was 420 feet long and the other two sides 300 feet 
each. Through each curtain was a gateway, and each gateway 
was protected by a piece of ordnance inside.^ 

Within the enclosure, the settlers placed their rude habi- 
tations, of which the best consisted of rails covered with sedge 
and earth, and plastered inside with bitumen or tough clay. 
Some of the settlers lived in holes in the ground, called on' the 
western plains, "dug-outs," where they are sometimes used. 
The cabins were very hot in summer and cold in winter. Near 
the fort, on two little knolls (called "mountains" by George 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 91. 

2 Yon^c, Site of Old Jamcstowne, 18. 

3 Purchas, His Pilgrimes, IV., 1752, 1753. 

[30] 



The English at Jamestown. 31 

Percy), they planted most of their EngHsh wheat, and by the 
time the fort was finished it had sprung " a man's height from 
the ground." This was the first essay at farming on James 
River. ^ 

Newport departed with the ships for England June 22, 
and after this the sufferings of the colonists were too great to 
permit any more improvements during the summer. They 
were besieged by Indians, a small ladle of " ill conditioned " 
barley meal was the daily ration, the brackish water of the 
river served them for drink, and dissensions broke out between 
the president and councillors. In a short time Gosnold died ; 
Kendall, detected in a design to desert the colony, was shot ; 
and Wingfield was deposed from the presidency, and sub- 
stituted by John Ratclifife. By September 10, of the one hun- 
dred and four men left behind by Newport only forty-six 
remained alive. September 17, occurred the hvo first jury 
trials in America, when Jehu Robinson and John Smith sued 
the deposed president for slander, and recovered verdicts from 
the jury, — Robinson for ioo£ damages, and Smith for 20o£.^ 

In September the Indians made peace with the settlers and 
sent them daily supplies of corn and wild meat ; and, the cool 
weather coming on, the river was full of wild fowl, which sup- 
plied the survivors with nourishing food and restored them to 
health. The settlers purchased^ the Island from the Pas- 
paheghs, and resumed their work upon the frail habitations ;* 
and when in November the Indians declined in their kindly 
attentions, Smith, as cape merchant, was sent to Kecoughtan 
and other places on James River to trade for corn, in which 
business he was very successful. In December, while on an 
exploring trip up the Chickahominy, he was captured by the 
Indians, who killed two of his companions and carried him 
from village to village, and finally to Werowocomoco on York 
River, where he was saved from death by Pocahontas, Pow- 
hatan's daughter. Through her influence he was sent back to 
Jamestown, where on his arrival January 2 he was promptly 
arrested by the council and sentenced to death under the 
Levitical law for the loss of the two men killed by the Indians. 

1 Percy, Discourse in Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), Ixx. 

2 Wingfield, Discourse in Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), Ixxxiii. 

3 True Declaration. (Force, Tracts, III., No. xvi.) 

4 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 392. 



32 The Cradle of the Republic. 

And he would have been executed the next day, had not that 
self same evening Newport returned with the " First Supply " 
of men and provisions and caused his release from custody.^ 
Newport found only thirty or forty persons surviving at 
Jamestown, and he brought about seventy more. 

Five days after Newport arrived at Jamestown, the habi- 
tations in the fort, together with all the ammunition and pro- 
visions, were destroyed by a fire so intense that it burned the 
palisades though eight or ten yards distant. The result was 
that as the winter was very severe; many died from exposure 
while working to restore the town ; but with the help of Cap- 
tain Newport and his mariners the palisades, cabins, church, 
and storehouse were partially rebuilt before the Winter was 
out.^ The provisions brought in this supply were scant, and 
the mortality would have been even greater, but for the relief 
afforded by Pocahontas and her Indians, who frequently 
resorted to the fort. 

Nevertheless, to satisfy the expectations of the authorities in 
England, the settlers, instead of being put to clearing and 
planting the ground when Spring came, were forced to give 
all their time to loading the ships with cedar and clapboards 
and digging for " fool gold."^ 

April 10, t6o8, Newport left the colony, and ten days later 
Captain Francis Nelson arrived in the Phoenix, with forty 
additional settlers. He stayed till June, and during the inter- 
val most of the time of the settlers was taken up in providing 
another load of cedar. So that no improvements were made 
at Jamestown beyond some slight repairs made by Smith and 
Scrivener upon the frail habitations in the. stockade.^ Conse- 
quently, the second Summer at Jamestown was characterized 
by misfortunes similar to those of the first. Ratcliite in his turn 
was deposed, and after a brief administration by Scrivener, 
John Smith, who had been absent most of the time exploring 
Chesapeake Bay, became president, September lo, 1608. 

Resuming the work of making repairs, he enlarged the area 
of the fort by the addition of about three acres and changed 

1 Wingfield, Discourse in Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), Ixxxvi. 

2 Ibid. 

^ A Breifc Declaration in State Senate Doc, extra (1874), 70- 
4 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 409. 



Island of Jamestown. 



33 




the plan to a "five square forme" (i. e. a pentagon). While 
thus engaged, the Second Supply arrived in October, bringing *^ 
with it seventy passengers, who added to the fifty persons found 
at Jamestown raised the population to about 120. Among the 
new comers were eight_Po|es and Germans sent over to makev'' 
glass, pitch and soap ashes, and two women Mrs. Forrest and 
her maid Ann Burras, who were the first of tTieir sex to settle 
on James River. The marriage in the church at Jamestown 
about two months later of this Ann Burras to one of the 
settlers named John Laydon, a carpenter by trade, was 
tJie first recorded EnglisJi marriage on the soil of the United 
States,^ and their child, Virginia, born^ the following year, 
was the first child horn in 
the first permanent Eng- 
lish settlement on the 
Western Continent. 

Newport brought a let- 
ter from the superior 
council in England which 
showed that they were not 
at ail satisfied with the 
cargoes sent home at the 
cost of so much labor and 
suffering, and the colonists 
were directed to explore 
the country above the Falls 
for a gold mine. Com- 
pliance with these instruc- 
tions took them off to such 
an extent from their neces- 
sary labors that, had not Newport and Smith during the Winter 
following made repeated visits to the Indians, they might ail 
have starved before the Spring. 

The account which Smith gives of the labor performed by 
the colonists, from February to May, 1609, speaks much for 
their endurance. It was by itself a herculean task to cut down 
forty acres of trees and prepare the land for corn ; but besides 
this, they dug a deep well in the fort, re-covered their church, 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 130. 

2 Hotten, Emigrants to America, 185, 245. 

3 




CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



34 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



erected twenty new cabins, manufactured a supply of glass, set 
up a block house at the isthmus, and built a new fort up 
Gray's creek opposite to Jamestown.^ The misfortunes which 
interrupted these proceedings are to be attributed not to the 
colonists, but to the carelessness of Smith, who reigned sole 
ruler — the other councillors being all dead or gone to Eng- 
land. While they were engaged at the fort across the river, it 
was suddenly discovered that most of the corn on which the 
colonists depended was consumed by rats. And as the re- 
mainder was " unfit to eat," Smith, in order to save the colony, 
had to disperse the settlers, sending some to live with the In- 
dians, and others to the oyster banks down the river, where 
at the end of nine weeks the oyster diet caused all their skins 
'' to peel off from head to foot as if they had been fleade." - 

While these matters were happening, the reports brought 
by the ships of the dissensions in the council at Jamestown 
received the attention of the London Company. In May, 1609, 
a new charter was issued,^ extending the company's territory 
for 400 miles along the coast and inland west and northwest 
to the South Sea, and giving the stockholders the power to 
appoint " a sole and absolute governor," for Virginia. Not 
long afterwards a Third Supply was made ready, and in June, 
1609, Sir Thomas Gates took passage as governor with about 
500 settlers. But the voyage over was very unfortunate ; for 
an epidemic broke out among the passengers, and there fol- 
lowed a great storm which scattered the fleet and wrecked 
upon the Bermuda Islands the Sea Venture, which bore the 
governor and one hundred and fifty other passengers; and 
though the rest of the fleet reached Jamestown in safety, their 
arrival only added to the troubles already existing there. 

The new settlers brought with them the yellow fever and 
the London plague, and their supplies were all ruined by the 
rain and sea water. Moreover, Smith received their leaders 
very unkindly, and after several violent quarrels he took 
passage for England in October, 1609, with the returning 
ships, leaving as president, George Percy, brother to the Earl 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed), 471. 
^A Brcife Declaration, 70. 
SHening, Statutes at Large, I., 80-98. 



Island of Jamestown. 35 

of Northumberland. Smith says that at his departure, James- 
town was well protected by ordnance and contained forty or 
fifty cabins, but it is probable that most of these houses weio 
put up by the new arrivals, about 250 in number.^ 

There succeeded nine months of terrible suffering known as 
the Starving Time, during which most of the settlers died ; 
and when the Spring of 16 10 arrived only some sixty wretched 
survivors were living at Jamestown ; and these were saved at 
the last moment in an almost miraculous manner. 

In the month of May, when all hope seemed lost, two ships 
were discovered one day coming up the river. When they 
cast anchor, they were found to contain Sir Thomas Gates and 
the passengers of the Sea J'enfnre, whom all at Jamestown 
considered lost at sea. These ships had been constructed by 
the castaways out of the cedar that grew in the Bermudas, 
and bore the names of the Patience and Deliverance — words 
of significant import to all the actors in this historic tragedy. 

But if the colonists at Jamestown were astonished at the 
coming of the ships. Gates and his companions were much 
more so at the strange sights which met their eyes on the 
sorrow-stricken Island. As stated by Gates himself in a letter^ 
written not long after: "Jamestown seemed raither as the 
ruins of some auntient (fortification), then that any people 
living might now inhabit it ; the palisadoes he found tourne 
downe, the portes open, the gates from the hinges, the church 
ruined and unfrequented, empty houses (whose owners un- 
timely death had taken newly from them) rent up and burnt, 
the living not hable, as they pretended, to step into the woodes 
to gather other fire-wood ; and. it is true, the Indian as fast 
killing zvithont as the famine and pestilence ivithin." 

Gates relieved the immediate distress by the prompt distri- 
bution of provisions, and then asserted order by the publication 
of a code of martial law drawn up in England. Next he 
called a council of the leading officers, and, on their advice, 
decided to abandon the settlement, as the provisions brought 
from the Bermudas were only sufficient to last the company 
sixteen days longer. 

1 Smith, Worlds (Arber's ed.), 612. 

2 Brown, Genesis of the United States, 405. 



36 The Cradle of the Republic. 

And now it appeared, indeed, as if another sickening failure 
would be added to the long list of fruitless endeavors to plant 
an English colony in America. Sending ahead the pinnace 
Virginia, built on the coast of Alaine in 1607, to Point Comfort 
to take on Captain Davis and the guard there, the company at 
Jamestown made ready for their own departure. June 7, 1610, 
Gates ordered all the small arms to be carried aboard, buried 
the cannon at the fort gate, and commanded every man to 
repair to the Patience and Deliverance at the beating of the 
drum ; and while the men were going aboard, lest some one 
might set fire to the buildings in the town which they were 
abandoning, he caused his own company, under Captain 
George Yeardley, to embark after the rest, and was himself 
the last to leave the shore. ^ 

It was in the evening that they left Jamestown, and they 
halted that night at Hog Island about six miles below the 
fort. The next morning they resumed their voyage, and 
had reached Mulberry Island, about eight miles further down, 
Avhen they saw the white sails of a little vessel coming to meet 
them. It was the pinnace Virginia, and never did vessel bring 
more important message. Edward Brewster, its commander, 
informed Gates that Lord Delaware had arrived at Point Com- 
fort with 150 settlers; and, thereupon, the colonists very 
unwillingly put back to Jamestown, and that evening took 
possession again of their forlorn habitations. Sunday, June 
10, Lord Delaware arrived and went ashore in the afternoon 
with Sir Ferdinando Wainman. This was a great occasion 
and one duly appreciated at the time. Sir Thomas Gates 
caused his company to stand in arms, and William Strachey, 
the secretary of state, acted as color bearer. 

As soon as the Lord Governor arrived near the south gate 
of the fort opening towards the river, he fell upon his knees, 
and made a long and silent prayer to God. Then arising, he 
walked to the entrance of the town, Strachey bowing before 
him with his colors, and letting them fall in the gateway at 
his Lordship's feet, who passed on to the church, where Rev. 
Richard Buck (" Sir Thomas Gates his preacher"), delivered 
an impressive sermon. 

1 Brown, Genesis of the United States, 406. 



The English at Jamestown. 



Z7 



After this, Lord Delaware caused his ensign, Anthony 
Scott, to read his commission, which entitled him " Lord 
Governor and Captain General," during his life, of the colony 
and plantation in Virginia (" Sir Thomas Gates our Governor 
hitherto, being now styled therein Lieutenant General "), upon 
which Sir Thomas Gates delivered up to his Lordship " his 
owne commission, both patents, and the Counsell scale." 
Delaware next made the crowd a speech, in which he mingled 
words of reproach, warning, advice and cheer. He set the 
men to cleaning the town, and rehabilitating the houses, after 
a much more substantial manner. Boards were hewed and 
placed upon the roofs, 



and the sides of some of 
the houses were pro- 
tected with Indian mats, 
which rendered them 
much more defensive 
against heat and cold. 
The chimneys were made 
of wattles daubed with 
clay and were wide and 
large, permitting great 
fires in the winter. Stra- 
chey accurately describes 
the new houses in the fol- / 

lowing quaint verses: 

THOMAS WEST (Lord Delaware). 

" We dwell not here to build vs Bowers 
And Hals for pleasure and good cheere, 
But Hals we build for vs and ours 
To dwell in them whilst we live here." 

The settlement of four acres was defended by new palisades, 
and everything was made safe and comfortable for the time 
being.^ 

Delaware next proceeded to settle matters with the Indians, 
and, in retaliation for the killing of Humphrey Blunt opposite 
to Blunt Point, he ordered Gates to attack and drive Powha- 




1 Purchas, His Pilgrimcs, iv., 1753. 



38 The Cradle of the Republic. 

tan's son Pochins and his tribe from Kecoughtan ; and when 
this was done, he erected two forts at the mouth of Hampton 
River, called Charles and Henry, about three miles from Point 
Comfort. In the Autumn he sent out an expedition to the Falls 
of James River to search for gold mines, but, like its prede- 
cessors, the expedition proved a failure and many of the men 
perished by the Indians. In a short time Delaware himself 
fell sick, and to save his life he departed the colony March 28, 
1611,^ leaving George Percy again in charge. 

The houses in Jamestown having been built of unseasoned 
timber did not last long in the changeable climate of Virginia ; 
and it is not surprising that Sir Thomas Dale, who arrived 
at Jamestown as deputy governor, ]\Iay 21, 161 1, found it 
necessary to make repairs on most of the buildings which 
Strachey had praised.- He also started some additional im- 
provements, which were completed by Sir Thomas Gates, 
who came as lieutenant governor August i. Besides repair- 
ing the church and storehouse they erected a stable, munition 
house, and a sturgeon dressing house ; brick was made ; and, 
as the water of the old well was contaminated, a new well was 
dug in the fort. "A bridge'' (that is a wharf), "the first in 
the country," was built out to the channel about 200 feet 
distant " to land our goods dry and safe upon ;" and a block 
house was put up on the Back River. Then a new platform 
for ordnance in the fort was raised and three storehouses 
joined together were constructed, making a block forty feet 
wide and 120 feet long. By the care and providence of Sir 
Thomas Gates, there were at Jamestown in 16 14, when Ralph 
Hamor, Strachey 's successor as secretary of state, wrote an 
account of Jamestown, " two rows of faire houses, all of 
framed timber, two stories and an upper garret or corn-loft 
high, besides some other houses without the town."^ Among 
the houses referred to by Hamor was one built by Gates for 
a governor's house,'* which was probably outside of the stock- 
ade, and in the section of the Island afterward known as 

1 Brown, Genesis of the United States, 1., 490. 

^' Ibid., 492. 

3 Hamor, True Diseourse, 33. 

^A Breife Deelai'ation, in Va. State Senate Doc. (extra), 1874, p. 80. 



The English at Jamestown. 39 

" New Tovvne." Gates stayed in Virginia till February, 1614, 
and after his departure the government was administered by 
Dale, marshal of the colony, till May, 1616. They subjected 
the colonists to the strictest martial law, and under the severe 
system of labor instituted " many young men of Auncyent 
Houses and born to estates of £1,000 by the year," perished^ 
at Jamestown and at the new settlements up the river — 
Henrico, Bermuda Hundred and Charles Hundred. 

During this period, however, there were interesting dealings 
with the Spanish, Indians and French. In 161 1, a Spanish 
ship, sent to spy on the English colonists, came to Point Com- 
fort where three of the officers — alcayde Don Diego de 
Molina, ensign Marco Antonio Perez, and pilot Francis 
Limbrye — going ashore, were arrested and remained 
prisoners at Jamestown for several years. Two years after 
this incident, succeeding some heavy punishments inflicted 
upon the Indians by Dale, Pocahontas was captured by Argall, 
and brought also to Jamestown. Not long afterwards, Gates 
and Dale, hearing that the French in Nova Scotia and Maine 
were preparing to settle New England, sent Argall with an 
armed vessel, who dispossessed the intruders and brought 
fifteen of them to Virginia, where they were added to the list 
of captives at Jamestown. 

The colonists must have been much excited over this inter- 
esting collection, but if any of them were given to writing. Dale 
did not give him the time or opportunity to print his account. 
Most of the colonists during this period were engaged up the 
river, building Henrico, Bermuda Hundred and Charles City, 
where they were subjected by Dale to a more than " Scythian 
cruelty." At Jamestown, according to the report^ of John 
Rolfe, who succeeded Hamor as secretary, there were in 161 5 
under the command of Lt. Sharpe, " in the absence of Captain 
Francis West," about sixty persons only, " whereof thirtie one 
are farmers ;" who all maintained themselves with " food and 
rayment." The " farmers " referred to were of the fortunate 
class to whom Governor Dale gave three acres of land to be 

1 The Tragical Relation, in Neill, J'irginia Company. 407-411. 
- Rolfe, Relation in Southern Lit. Messenger, V., 401. 



40 The Cradle of the Republic. 

cultivated in their own way, on condition of their paying 
two and one-half barrels of corn, and giving one month's ser- 
vice in every year to the public. 

These were really dark days, and emigration from England 
entirely ceased. When Dale left in 1616, there were only 
351 persons in the colony, and the enterprise might have been 
given over entirely had not, in the cultivation of tobacco 
begun by John Rolfe in 161 2, a fresh hope been found. Dale 
frowned upon the new occupation, but after his departure 
Captain George Yeardley, who acted as deputy-governor for a 
year, gave the " w^eed " every encouragement, with the result 
that emigration set in again with force. Private companies 
were formed, who sent colonies of their own to Virginia; 
and, despite martial law which slew its hundreds and climatic 
disease which slew its thousands, the colony slowly increased 
in population. Three years after Dale's departure for Virginia 
the number of inhabitants had risen from 351 to 1,000.^ 

In the meantime, import- 

^ f^ /l/lf^y/^^ /2^2yP^ ant changes ensued in Eng- 
^/^llff^l^^vf^ land in the constitution of the 

London Company. Till 1612 
all power had been invested 
in the treasurer, Sir Thomas Smith, and his council, but in 
that year the stockholders applied for and obtained a third 
charter limiting all important business to a quarterly meeting 
of the members. On the question of governing the colony, 
they soon divided into two parties, the " court party " in favor 
of continuing martial law, headed by Sir Robert Rich, after- 
wards Earl of Warwick, and the country or "patriot party" led 
by Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Edwin Sandys, the Earl of South- 
ampton, Sir John Danvers, and John and Nicholas Ferrar. Of 
the two, the " country party " was the more numerous, and 
when the joint stock partnership expired November 30, 161 6, 
they appointed Captain Samuel Argall, a kinsman of Treasurer 
Smith, to be deputy-governor of Virginia, with instructions to 
give every settler a dividend of fifty acres, and to permit him 
to visit England if he chose,^ a privilege hitherto denied. 

1 Va. Company Proceedings (Va. Hist. Soc. Coll., new series, VII., 
pt. I., 6s). 

2 Brown, Genesis of the United States, II., 775-779, 797-799, 1015. 




The English at Jamestown. 



41 



Argall sailed to Virginia about the first part of April, 1617, 
and was received at Jamestown by Yeardley in military style, 
" his right hand file being led by an Indian."' According to 
his own statement he found Jamestown in a very neglected 
condition. Only five or six of the " farm houses " described 
by Hamor were habitable, the palisades were rotten and 
broken, the wharf was in pieces, and even the well dug in 161 1 
was polluted and not fit to drink from. Argall attributes the 
evil to the rage for tobacco, and says that the market place, 
the margin of the streets and all other spare places were set 
Avith the plant. ^ He was partially correct, but the decay was 
really more truly attributable to the sappy timbers of which 
the works of the colony 
were constructed, and the 
deadening influences of 
martial law, which de- 
prived labor of its natural 
stimulus of pride or self 
interest. But Argall, 
though he had been very 
useful in a subordinate 
capacity, proved wholly 
tmscrupulous as deputy- 
governor. Instead of 
obeying his instructions, 
he continued the common 
slavery under one pre- 
tense or another, and 
even plundered the com- ^^^ ^^^^'^^ sandys, 

J. 11 ., , , Second treasurer, or president, of tlie 

pany of all the servants and London Company. 

live stock belonging to the 

" common garden." Beyond patching up the houses he con- 
structed no new buildings at Jamestown, except a wing to the 
governor's house erected by Gates, and a church, which was, 
however, paid for by the inhabitants.^ In April, 1618, the 
company incensed at his behavior dispatched the Lord Gover- 
nor Delaware to arrest him, but Delaware died on the way over, 
and Argall continued his tyrannical government one year longer. 




1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 535. 

^ A Breife Declaration, in State Senate Documents (extra). 1874, P- 8o- 



42 The Cradle of the Republic. 

During this interval, Sandys was associated with Sir Thomas 
Smith in preparing a paper wdiich gave America its first 
experience of a written constitution for internal affairs. It 
abolished martial law and communism, assured to every settler 
a dividend of land, and authorized the people of the colony to 
elect representatives, who should share with the company in 
making laws. To put the constitution into effect Sir George 
Yeardley was sent in January, 1619, as " Governor and 
Captain General," and he arrived at Jamestown April 19, and 
made known the intentions of the London Company. At nearly 
the same time the supervision of Virginia affairs in England 
fortunately passed into the hands of Sir Edwin Sandys and his 
noble friend, the Earl of Southampton, assisted especially by 
the sincere and pure-hearted brothers John and Nicholas 
Ferrar, sons of Nicholas Ferrar, Sen. 

Under the orders to Yeardley, Jamestown was made the 
capital of one of the four new corporations, comprising the 
settlements, and called " James Citty," which continued after- 
wards its official designation. Other events render the year 
memorable — the meeting of the first legislative assembly on 
July 30, the introduction in August of the first negro slaves, 
and the arrival from England of a ship with twenty young 
maidens " pure and undefiled," sold to the settlers for wives 
at the cost of their transportation, viz : one hundred and 
twenty pounds of tobacco, equivalent to $500, in present cur- 
rency. Despite martial law, the culture of tobacco, which 
brought sometimes as much as $12 a pound in the London 
market, had already effected a great change. This is seen 
from an act of this earliest assembly which taxed every man 
according to the apparel worn by him or his wife,^ and from a 
letter" of John Pory, written two months after the assembly 
adjourned, containing this paragraph: "Now that your lord- 
ship may know that we are not the veriest beggars in the 
world, our cow-keeper here of James citty on Sundays goes 
accowtered all in freshe flaming silke ; and a wife of one that 
in England had professed the black arte, not of a schollar, but 
of a collier of Croyden, weares her rough bever hatt with a 
faire perle hatband, and a silken suite thereto correspondent. '\ 

' Va. State Senate Doc. (extra), 1874, 20. 

"Massachusetts Hist. Soc, Collections, 4th series, IX., 11-13. 



The English at Jamestown. 43 

Soon, in place of the old log cabins, there rose at Jamestown 
and elsewhere framed buildings " better than many in Eng- 
land," and for three years this prosperous condition kept up, 
notwithstanding an appalling mortality among the swarms 
of settlers sent over by the vigorous managers of the London 
Company. One. thousand people were in \'irginia at Easter, 
1619, and to this number 3,560 were added during the next 
three years; yet only 1,240 were resident in the colony on 
Good Friday, March 22, 1622, a day when the horrors of an 
Indian massacre reduced the number to 893. 

Since 1614, when Pocahontas, during her captivity with the 
English, married John Rolfe, peace with the Indians prevailed 
with some slight interruptions. But in April, 1618, Powhatan 
died and the chief power was wielded by his brother Opechan- 
canough, who secretly formed a plot for exterminating the 
English. In Novem- 
ber, 1 62 1, Sir Fran- 
governor, and soon | / ' • yQ'(2T^!_^i/^yi/ 
after the blow was /" ^__— — ^ ^'^ y^'r9^^ 
struck, Jamestown >*' Cu^ 
was fortunate enough to receive notice, and repelled the 
savages when they appeared before the fort in four canoes. 

The scattered and dispersed mode of living in Virginia had 
enabled the savages to attack with deadly result, and after the 
massacre the colonists determined to abandon the weaker 
plantations and concentrate the surviving population in five 
or six well fortified places. Jamestown peninsula was one of 
these, and as the old quarters were overcrowded, William 
Claiborne, who, as surveyor general, came with Wyatt, laid out 
in 1623 a new section for habitation on the fourth ridge, east- 
ward of the old stockade. The addition was called " New 
Towne," and commanded a beautiful view of the river, and 
here probably was already established the governor's house 
built by Gates in 1610, enlarged by Argall in 1617, and 
granted by the company in 1618 to the use of Governor 
Yeardley and his successors.^ 

1 Instructions to Yeardley in Va. Magazine, II., 158. 





44 



The Cradle of the Republic. 




PLh 



.'So a 
M .in 



IN 

o 

1- IN 



u-? 



^ >,■ 



o 



C "5 



7h4 



The English at Jamestown. 



45 



According to the census of 1624, the number of inhabitants 
living at Jamestown and in the immediate neighborhood 
amounted in all to 353, distributed as follows: Jamestown, 182 
persons, including three negroes; the Island outside, 39; the 
Main, 88; Neck of Land, 25; the Glass-house 5, and Archer's 
Hope 14. There were at this time in Jamestown four pieces 
of ordnance, twenty-two dwellings, one church, one merchant's 
store, three storehouses, and one large court-of-guard (guard 
house). 

The new houses at James- 
town were framed buildings, 
and being made of seasoned 
lumber they were necessarily 
a great improvement over 
the sappy edifices hitherto 
constructed. In reference to 
the houses generally in Yir-f 
ginia Rev. William Alease 
tokP the Londoners that 
" throughout his majesty's 
dominions here (in Eng- 
land) all labouringe men's 
houses (well wee chiefly 
pfess ourselves to be) are in 
no wise generally for good- 
ness to be compared unto 





X 




NICHOLAS FERRAR, JR. 



them. And for the bowses of men of better ranke and quallity 
they are so much better and convenyent yt noe man of quallity 
without blushinge can make exception against them." 

The leading men resident in Jamestown were Sir Francis 
Wyatt, the governor; Sir George Yeardley, the ex-govcrnor; 
Dr. John Pott, appointed in 1621 physician to the colony, on 
the recommendation of the distinguished physician Gulstone, 
who spoke of him as " a Master of Arts and well practised in 
Chirurgerie and physique ;" Captain Ralph Hamor, Jr., for- 
merly Dale's secretary of state ; Captain William Peirce, father 
of John Rolfe's third wife Jane, and successor to Captain 
William Powell as captain of the fort ; Captain Roger Smith, 
whose wife Jane in 1624 was probably widow of John Rolfe, 



1 Neill, London Company, 402, 



46 The Cradle of the Republic. 

as she had Elizabeth Rolfe, daughter of Jane Rolfe, living with 
her, and came to the colony in 1609 in the same vessel The 
Blessing; Edward Blaney, who came in 1621 in charge of a 
magazine of goods sent by the company in England, and who 
married the widow of Captain William Powell ; Captain Richard 
Stephens, noted as party to the first duel fought in an English 
colony, wounding his antagonist George Harrison so severely 
that he died in a few days ; Captain John Harvey of Lyme 
Regis, Dorset, England, afterwards governor ; John Chew, a 
great merchant, who about 1649 removed to Maryland and was 
ancestor of Chief Justice Benjamin Chew, of Germantown, 
Pennsylvania ; Captain George Menifie, who in 1635 took a 
leading part in the deposition of Sir John Harvey, resided 
afterwards at '* Littletown " in James City County, and died 
about 1647 at " Buckland " in Charles City County. 

All these lived in the " New Towne," and the following 
will perhaps give some idea of the Island as it appeared in 
1 624- 1 628. 

There was a highway, called in later land grants the " Old 
Great Roade," and sometimes the " Maine Roade," which ran 
from the block house at the Isthmus, first near the river shore 
and then over the second and third ridges, past the old quarter 
of the town, and on by the northeast corner of the churchyard, 
till it connected with the Back Street in the " New Towne," 
and the road that passed along the river side. 

" New Towne " began at Orchard Run, a branch of " Pitch 
and Tar Swamp," and on the first lot westward of this branch 
lived Captain John Harvey.^ This lot, which contained six and 
one-half acres, lay between Back Street and the river bank; 
and as its west side was twenty-six poles or 143 yards, this 
approximately represented the distance of Back Street from 
the river at that point. Next to Harvey's lot was George 
Menifie's tract- of three roods and twenty poles, bounded as 
the patent states " northward upon the bounds over along to 
the ground belonging to Back Streete." Separated from 
Menifie by a cross street was Captain Ralph Hamor's^ town lot 

1 Va. Land Register, I., 7. 

2 Ibid., I., 6. 

3 Ibid., I., 5- 



The English at Jamestown. 47 

of an acre and a half, which " abutted southward upon the 
highway along the banke of the Maine River and northward 
upon the Back Streete." Its breadth " alwayes "" was eleven 
poles, and its eastern side was twenty-two and its western 
nineteen poles in length. 

Next to Hamor was Captain Richard Stephens, whose wife 
Elizabeth was daughter of Abraham Peirsey, cape merchant of 
the colony, and married secondly Captain John Harvey. His 
lot^ contained sixty rods, and reached back to the lot- of John 
Chew, which contained one rood and nine poles and faced 
north upon the Back Street. Next to Captain Richard 
Stephens, was a lot belonging to one Jackson (probably John 
Jackson), which lay nearly south of the present ruined 
Jaquelin-Ambler house. 

On the north of Back Street, opposite to Captain John 
Harvey's lot, and fronting upon the street twenty-five poles, 
was Dr. John Pott's lot^ of three acres, which he enlarged in 
1628 by adding nine acres in the rear. On his west was a 
small tract belonging in 1624 to Captain William Peirce, whose 
house was pronounced by George Sandys, the poet and brother 
of Sir Edwin Sandys, the " fairest in Virginia." Sandys had a 
room there, in which he raised silkworms and turned into Eng- 
lish the Latin of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Next to Peirce, was 
the lot of Governor Sir Francis Wyatt, not far from the site of 
the ruins of the Jaquelin-Ambler house ; and north of Wyatt's 
lot were the four acres of Captain Roger Smith described in 
the patent as bounding " South upon the pale of the Gover- 
nor's Garden, north upon the ground of Sir George Yeardley 
divided by the highway, eastward upon the bridge in the 
said highway leading into the Island," (f. e. the part of the 
Island north of Pitch and Tar Swamp) " and also upon the 
yard of Captain William Peirce, and W'Cst upon the highway 
leading into the Parke. "^ A cartway passed from Back Street 
through Captain William Peirce's lot over the Bridge across 
the swamp to the " Island House " of Richard Kingsmill, 

1 Va. Land Register., I., i. 

2Ibid.. I., 7- 

3 Ibid., I., 8. 

^The leaf in the record book containing this grant was torn out a 
few years ago, when the agents of West Virginia copied the books in 
the Land Office ; but I had previously made a careful copy of the 
descriptive part, as above. 



48 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Finally, in the rear of Smith on the third ridge was Sir 
George Yeardley's lot^ of seven acres and one rood, and it 
abutted " northerly upon the Back River, southerly upon the 
ground of Captain Roger Smith, easterly upon the railes and 
fence which pteth the same from the land of the Maine Island 
and westerly upon the Parke." Of an ancient English family, 
Yeardley came to Virginia a poor man, but from the culture 
of tobacco amassed so much money that at his appointment as 
governor in 1619 he was able to spend £3,000 in providing an 
outfit.- In 1625, he was the richest man in Virginia, and had, 
at his residence in Jamestown, his wife. Lady Temperance 
Yeardley, his three children, sixteen white employees, and 
eight negro slaves.^ 

The parts of the Back Street located by the patents extended 
from Orchard Run to the ruins of the Jaquelin-Ambler man- 
sion, a distance of about 400 yards. . The " street " was sixty 
feet wide, and had the same general direction east and west 
as the highway referred to in the patents as the " way along 
the Create River" or "the Maine River," which constituted the 
front street of the New Tovvne. " The Back Street," says'^ Mr. 
Yonge, "could not have been a street in the modern significa- 
tion of the word, with sidewalks and pavements, for paving 
before the doors of houses, even in ' London Towne,' was not 
introduced until 16 14. It seems to have merged into the ' old 
Create Road,' which led to the head of the Island and passed 
near the northeast corner of the old churchyard, a few rods 
from the same corner of the present one, near which there 
appear to be traces of a road. 

" Traces of the highway along the river-bank, bordered by 

1 William Claiborne, who surveyed this lot, adds a note in the rec- 
ords : " This ground by measure conteyneth as said seaven acres and a 
quarter on that side towards the back river it conteynenth thirtie two 
poles there lying a little marsh between the same and the back river, 
the aforesaid towards Capt. Smith's ground is little more than thirtie 
fower poles." This patent was lost from the records at the same time 
as Roger Smith's, but it was copied by Dr. E. D. Neill, who published 
it in the Macallester Historical Contributions (ist series), No. i, 32.- 

2 John Pory's letter in Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections (4th series), IX., 
14-16. ... 

3 Hotten, Emigrants to America, 173, 222. 
^ Yonge, Site of Old Jamestozvne, 34-35. 



The English at Jamestown. 49 

its gnarled and riven mulberries, lineal descendants, no doubt, 
of some cited in several patents as reference trees, are still to 
be seen. The planting of mulberry trees for feeding silk- 
worms was initiated in 162 1, and made compulsory by statute. 
Silk culture received attention as early as 1614, but the enter- 
prise was never a commercial success. Foreign workmen were 
imported to teach silk making, and a present of silk was sent 
Charles II. by Sir William Berkeley in 1668. 

" New Towne after 1624 was the most thickly inhabited 
part of James City, and the grants for land show that the loca- 
tion has not been encroached upon to any considerable ex- 
tent by the waters of James River." 

In the section of the Island, north of " New Towne," we 
know of only one person at this time — Richard Kingsmill, 
and he owned eighty acres called the " Island House " Tract, 
situated between Back River and Pitch and Tar Swamp. 

In the section of the Island east of James City, Ensign 
William Spencer had some land^ near Black Point, and ad- 
joining him on the west was John Johnson, yeoman, wdth 
fifteen acres. ^ West of Johnson were twelve acres, between 
Back River and " the highway leading to Black Point," 
belonging to John Southern, gent. ;•" and, separated by a marsh 
called Tucker's Hole, were twelve acres south of Kingsmill's 
Creek,'* patented February 20, 1620, by William Fairfax, and 
-sold by him December 18, 1620, to Rev. Richard Buck who 
died in 1623. A "green thicket" parted this tract from 
Mary Bailey's tract of ten acres which lay still further west. 

Adjoining his tract already mentioned and bounding south 
on the land^ of Mary Holland, widow of Gabriel Holland,, 
and west on that of Thomas Passmore, carpenter, John 
Southern had another tract of twelve acres. Mary Flolland's 
land referred to amounted to twelve acres " lately in the 
tenure of her former husband William Pinke, alias William 
Jones," and Thomas Passmore's land*^ also comprised twelve 
acres, which lay " south upon the highway running close to 

1 Va. Land Register, I., 15. 

2 Ibid. 

"Ibid, I., ^5. 
4 Ibid., I, 648. 
Mbid., I., ir. 
6 Ibid., I., 10. 

4 



50 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



Goose Hill Marsh," and extended east and west forty-eight 
poles and north and south forty poles. Near by, and "' south 
of the highway leading to Black Point," were eight acres^ of 
Richard Tree, carpenter, " who came as a freeman in the 
George, with Captain Abraham Peirsey, cape merchant.'' 
His neighbor on the south was Edward Grindall. 

Abutting on the "' Maine River," at Goose Plill, three ridges 
of land, containing eight acres each,- belonged respectively to 
Sir Thomas Dale, William Spencer, yeoman, " an antient 
planter," and John Lightfoot, also '" an old planter,'' who 
came in the Sea Venture in 1610 with Sir Thomas Gates and 
Sir George Somers. 

Finally, as appears from 
the above account, there 
was a road which con- 
nected Black Point with 
the river street of " New 
Towne " at the head of 
Passmore's Creek. 

Probably, at the building 
of " New Towne," some 
were sanguine enough to 
hope that a real city would 
;v rise at Jamestown, but 
these hopes, if entertained, 
received a severe shock by 
the order, not long after, 
permitting the re-establish- 
ment of the old plantations. 
The colonists carried fire 
and sword among the In- 
dian villages along James 
River, and soon drove the Indians far back into the forests. 
Jamestown Island, therefore, instead of becoming a town with 
a steadily increasing population, served the bulk of the colonists 
chiefly as a safety place for their hogs and cattle, which found 




HENRY WRIOTHESLEV, 

Earl of Southampton. 

Third treasurer, or president, of 

the London Company. 



1 Va. Land Register, I., 19. 

2 Ibid., II., 9, 10. 



The English at Jamestown. 51 

good feeding in the rich marsh land of Passmore's Creek and 
Pitch and Tar Swamp. ^ 

In the meantime, the attention of the people of Virginia was 
directed to a danger in England which threatened their rights 
as freemen. The Spanish government regarded English pos- 
session of Virginia as an intrusion on Spanish territory, and 
the A'irginia tobacco trade, coming in competition with the 
West India product, excited their jealousy. As force was out 
of question. Count Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador at 
London, tried to poison the king against the company ; and in 
this work he was aided by a faction in the company itself 
headed by Sir Thomas Smith and Alderman Johnson. The 
king was already jealous of Sandys and Southampton, who 
opposed him in Parliament ;. and, as the massacre and amazing 
mortality in Virginia afforded him an excuse, he was now easily 
persuaded to take action. In 1623. he sent several commis- 
sioners to Virginia, and on their one-sided report of the 
condition of things had the charter declared null and void in 
the court of the king's bench, May 24, 1624. 

Thus fell the great London Company, which in settling Vir- 
ginia expended upward of £200,000 (equal to $5,000,000 in 
present currency), and sent more than eight thousand emi- 
grants. In this service the company did not escape the 
troubles incident to the mercenary purpose of a joint stock cor- 
poration, }et under Sandys and Southampton it assumed a 
national and patriotic character, which entitles it to be con- 
sidered the greatest and noblest association ever organized by 
the English people. The heavy cost of the settlement w^as not 
a loss, for it secured to England a fifth kingdom and planted 
in the new world the germs of civil liberty. The change 
proved to the advantage of the colony, which had outgrown 
the management of a distant corporation.^ 

At Jamestow-n. s}'mpathy with the company was so openly 
expressed that Wyatt and his council ordered their clerk, 
Edward Sharpless, to lose his ears for giving to the king's 
commissioners copies of some of their papers ; and in January, 
1624, a protest called the Tragical Relation was addressed 
to the king, denouncing the administration of Sir Thomas 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 887. 
- Tyler, England in America, 88. 



52 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Smith, and extolling that of Sandys and Southampton. 
Although Wyatt cordially joined in this protest, and was a 
most popular governor, the general assembly in the same year 
passed an act^ which inhibited the governor from laving any 
taxes or impositions upon the colony except with the consent 
of the assembly. By this act Virginia first asserted on the 
American continent the indissoluble connection of taxation 
zvitJi representation. 

After the dissolution of the London Company, affairs were 
very much depressed in the colony on account of the death of 
James I., the uncertainty attending land titles, and even the 
form of government. Yet emigration continued, and while 
Jamestown served chiefly as a landing place for colonists who 
settled elsewhere, the wealth and population of the colony in- 
creased. In June, 1627, the following action took place- at 
Jamestown : 

A court held 25th. June, 1627, S'" George Yeardley, K°t. Governor &c., 
Capt. Smyth and M^' Claybourne : whereas M^' Wihiam Barnes and 
Robt. Paramor did on Thursday last behave themselves very negli- 
gently on their watch, it is, therefore, ordered that they shall pay 3, 
days work apiece in cuting dov/ne and clearing ofif all shrubs and lowe . 
wood as are before the town in the fields, & likewise that GoodmanJ 
Osborne^ for the like offence give one day's work. | 

This order was doubtless entered to guard against the 
savages, who still carried on a desultory war with the English. 

November 13, 1627, Sir George Yeardley died at James- 
town, and was interred either in the church or churchyard. 
This good man was one of the greatest benefactors of Vir- 
ginia, and with Sir Edwin Sandys deserves a monument at 
the hands of the people of the United States. If Sandys 
instituted the move for a representative government on this 
continent, Yeardley executed the orders and proved himself 
always the sympathetic friend of liberty. 

After Yeardley's death Charles I. sent directions to acting 
Governor Francis West to summon a general assembly, and 
March 26, 1628, after an interval of four years, the regular 

^ Hening, Statutes at t^arge, I., 124. 

2 Va. Magazine, IV., 160. 

3 John Osborne. 



The English at Jamestown. 53 

law-making body again assembled at Jamestown — an event 
second only in importance to tbe original meeting in 1619. 

Jamestown Island was now pretty well freed from trees, 
and was, for the most part, " pasture and gardens." The soil 
was rich, and in 1629 " J\Irs. Pearce " (wife of Captain 
William Peirce), "an honest and industrious woman," who 
"had been there (in Virginia) neere twentie years and now 
returned to England " reported^ that she had gathered from 
her garden '" neere an hundred bushels of figges," and that 
" of her own provision she could keepe a better house in Vir- 
ginia than here in London for 3 or 400 pounds a yeare, yet 
went thither with little or nothing." The population of the 
colony at large chiefly under the stimulus of tobacco had 
risen from 893 after the massacre in 1622 to about 3.000 in 
1629. 

In October of this year (1629) George Calvert, Lord Balti- 
more, who planned to obtain a large grant of land in A'ir- 
ginia, visited Jamestown with his wife and children. Dr. 
John Pott had succeeded West as acting governor ; and now 
Pott and his council suspecting Baltimore's motives tendered 
him the oath of supremacy, which the various instructions of 
the king strictly enjoined upon them to require of all new 
comers. This oath, Baltimore, as a Catholic, refused to take, 
and he soon after sailed away to press his suit in person at 
court. During his stay at Jamestown, Baltimore was treated 
coldly ; but, when one Thomas Tindall " gave him the lie and 
threatened to knock him down," the council vindicated 
\'irginia hospitality by putting the ofifender in the pillory for 
two hours." As Baltimore was unable to take his wife and 
children with him back to England, they were hospitably cared 
for at Jamestown for some months. Baltimore obtained a 
charter in England, which resulted in the first spoliation of 
Virginia territory under the charter of 1609 by the establish- 
ment of Maryland as an independent colony. 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 887. 

2 Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 552. 



54 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



These were exciting days at Jamestown, and Col. William 
Claiborne, the surveyor of " New Towne," who had settled a 
colony at Kent Island in the limits of Maryland, became the 
central figure in the colon}'. John Hai-vey. who succeeded 
Pott as governor in 1630, courted the favor of Lord Baltimore, 
and in 1635 Claiborne's friends in the council and assembly 
arrested Harvey and shipped him ofif to England. However, 

Charles L pronounced 
the deposition of Harvey 
as an act of " regal au- 
thority ;" and, fearing 
the precedent, gave an 
order for his reinstate- 
ment. He did not re- 
turn, however, until 
about eighteen months 
after his deposition ; and 
in the meantime Cap- 
tain John West, brother 
of Lord Delaware, acted 
as governor. 

Harvey reached Vir- 
ginia the second time in 
^January, 1637, and the as- 
sembly which met him at 
Jamestown, February 20, 
1637, made a special effort to promote the growth of the 
place. They passed an act^ confirmed at a subsequent session 
February 20, 1638, ofTering "a convenient proportion of 
ground for house and garden " to every person who should 
build thereon within two years. Harvey joined his endeavors 
with the rest, and in January, 1639, he wrote" home as fol- 
lows: "there are twelve houses and stores since built in the. 




-Co^^- 



1 Va. Land Register. I., 689. 

2 Calendar of State Papers, colonial, 1574-1660, p. 288. 



The English at Jamestown. 



55 



town, one of brick by the secretary (Richard Kempe, Esq.), 
the fairest ever known in this country for substance and uni- 
formity, by whose example others have undertaken to build 
framed houses and beautify the place." 

Harvey stated also that he and the council, as well as the 
masters of ships and the ablest planters, had liberally sub- 
scribed for a brick church, and that a levy had been laid for a 
state house, but that the recent instructions permitting" ships 




c- 



- ..« 



^y^''^. 



^^^?5»2V«^ 











RICHARD KEMPe's GRANT OF AN HALF ACRE IN NEW TOWNE IN 1638. 

A copy about 1683. 



to land goods elsewhere than at Jamestown had disheartened 
the investors. Till that order " there was not one foot of 
ground for half a mile together by the river side that was not 
taken up and undertaken to be built upon." 

Several of those who obtained lots at this time — such aa 
Richard Kempe, Arthur Bayley, Captain Thomas Hill, 
Richard Tree and Georsfe Alenifie — located them in New 



56 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Towne. Rev. Thomas Hampton secured a tract on a ridge 
" behind the church," presumed to be the old framed church 
erected in 1617-1619 at the site of the subsequent brick 
churches. And Alexander Stonar, " brickmaker," obtained a 
small tract " near the brick kiln," which the description shows 
to have been near the neck of the Island.^ It was doubtless 
from this brick kiln that the bricks for Kempe's house referred 






/ 



.,, .^^^^/z '^i:^^// 



/^' - : '^^.:.^?z, -^ 



r w' s- /^^ ^ " V '.'^ /^'"'-f/ 



.^^/^.r^^: . y:'^;^c, ^/7r,^^^^^_J/^^^J:^''^^^^ 



^. 












.7?^ 
.<--'-^. 









COURT ORDER OF LAND FOR SIR FRANCIS WYATT IN 164I. 

A copy about 16S3. 

to by Harvey, and for the other brick buildings now erected, 
were obtained. 

Richard Kempe's brick house stood in a half acre lot- on 
the Back Street, very near the site of the present Jaquelin- 
Ambler House : and when the liberal Sir Francis Wyatt, once 
governor before, superseded Harvey in November, 1639, this 

1 Va. Land Register, I., 67. 

2 Ibid., L, 587. 



The English at Jamestown. 57 

property was sold by Kempe to him; and in October, 1641, 
the general court gave Wyatt three acres more, covering the 
site of his old lot in 1624. 

Wyatt was succeeded by Sir William Berkeley, whose 
instructions dated August i, 1641, directed him, by way of 
encouraging the building of substantial dwelling houses in 
the colony, to give 500 acres to every person who should build 
a brick house twenty-four feet long and sixteen feet broad, with 
a cellar to it; and, "because the buildings at Jamestown were for 
the most part decayed and the place found to be unhealthy 
and inconvenient in many respects." he was, with the advice 
of his council and of the general assembly, permitted to 
change the chief town to another place, " retaining the ancient 
name of Jamestown.''^ Nevertheless, the general assembly 
preferred to keep the old site, and, March 2, 1643, passed an 
act^ that all persons who had built upon deserted lots since 
January, 1641, or should hereafter do so, should be pro- 
tected in their occupation against the original proprietors, 
wdio might have an equal quantity of ground in some other 
places conveniently near. 

Under this act, Richard Sanders, Edward Challis and 
Radulf Spraggon each obtained an acre on the river at the 
west end, beginning near the block house and Thomas 
Paule and Richard Clarke secured land at " Friggett Land- 
ing," where the bridge now crosses Back River. There were 
also grants to Rev. Thomas Hampton, Captain Robert Huchin- 
son and John White, which are useful in locating the church 
and state house. 

In 1639, and again in 1640, levies were laid for a state 
house, and April 17, 1641, the general assembly purchased 
two houses formerly belonging to Sir John Harvey in which 
the public business had been transacted. These appear to have 
been built tenement wise ; and they were transferred to Sir 
William Berkeley, w^ho erected a third house against the west 
wall, and thus made a block of houses 120 feet long by 20 
feet wide. The buildings were situated on the shore east of the 
church tower, and the middle building continued to be " the 



1 Fa. Magazine, II., 284. 

2 Hening, Statutes at Large, I.. 252. 



58 The Cradle of the Republic, 

state house " under Berkeley, as it had been under Harvey, 
until its destruction by fire in 1656. 

The civil war was raging in England, and the Indians, 
under Opechancanough, made another attempt to exterminate 
the colony; and April 27, 1644, the day before Good Friday, 
they attacked the plantations and killed 300 settlers. But the 
colony, which had now a population of about 12,000. hardly 
felt the shock, and after the first surprise the current of 
Virginia life flowed on as usual. The settlers accepted the 
gauntlet thrown down by the Indians, and waged a vigorous 
war upon them, till, in a resolute march in 1646 by Sir 
William Berkeley in person, the grim chief Opechancanough, 
aged and blind, was captured, and brought to Jamestown. 
However, we are told that he retained his usual haughty 
spirit, for hearing one day foot-steps in his room he requested 
his eyelids to be raised, when, perceiving about him a crowd 
of curious persons, he called loudly for the governor, and,, 
upon his appearance, exclaimed : " Had it been my fortune to- 
take Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I would have disdained 
to make a show of him." About a fortnight later, one of his 
guards shot him in his prison house, and, languishing awhile 
of the wound, he died at Jamestown, and was probably buried 
there.^ Necotowance, his successor, made peace with the 
white people soon after. 

In March, 1646, to discourage the sale of licjuor on the 
Island, the general assembly confined^ the privilege of 
"retailing wines, or strong waters" (whiskey), to licensed 
ordinary keepers, which was the first temperance legislation 
attempted in Virginia. 

In October, 1646, the general assembly, to encourage the- 
manufacture of linen, decided^ upon the erection of two 
houses at Jamestown, which were to be forty feet in length, 
twenty in width, and eight in pitch; and to have roofs of 
boards and a brick chimney placed in the center of each. 
Governor Berkeley undertook the contract of building, for 
10,000 pounds of tobacco, " to be paid him the next crop," and. 
the different counties were respectively required to furnish 

1 Beverley, Virginia, 49-50. 

2 Hening, Sfatufcs at Large, I., 319. 

3 Ibid., I., 336. 



The English at Jamestown. 59 

two poor children, male or female, of the age of seven or 
eight years at least, to be instructed in the art of carding, 
knitting and spinning. This act, and others like it, in the 
colonial records, give reason to believe that there was more 
manufacturing done in Mrginia than has been generally 
supposed. 

In 1649, the general assembl}^ established^ a market ai 
Jamestown on every Wednesday and Saturday ; and the 
market place was bounded " from the Sandy Gutt, commonly 
called and knowne by the name of Peter Knight's storehouse 
westward, and soe to the gutt next beyond the house of Lance- 
lot Elay eastward, and bounded on the north side with the 
Back River." " Sandy Gutt " mentioned here was probably 
" Orchard Run ; " for in 1656 Lancelot Elay had land there, 
and in a deed- dated 1736 the market is referred to as " ad- 
joining a ditch " which opened upon the River six and one 
fourth chains (about 206 feet) south 31° west of "the 
garden pales " of the Jaquelin-Ambler house. Within the 
area of land designated in the act, stretching across the Island, 
all bonds, bills or other writing attested by the market clerk 
for anything sold in the market on a market day, were to 
have the force of a judgment. 

Near the market was probably the ferry between the Island 
and Crouch's Creek and Swann's Point on the Surry side ; for, 
besides the natural connection of the two, a deed^ in 1755 
shows that the Island ferry then was at Orchard Run. At 
least, that is what I infer from the location of an acre of land 
described as " bounded on the east by the slasJt which separates 
it from the ferry-house land, on the soufli by James River, on 
the north by the Main Roade, and on the zvest by the acre of 
land lately conveyed to John Smith." 

These were turbulent days in the mother country between 
roundheads and cavaliers, and after the battles of JMarston 
Aloore and Naseby there was a large emigration of the latter 
class to Virginia. As the culture of tobacco by reason of 
its low price no longer held out much inducement, these new 
settlers came not so much to make tobacco as to make homes. 

1 Hening, Sfafutcs at Large. I., 362. 

2 Ambler MSS. in Library of Congress. 

3 Ibid. 



6o The Ci^\dle of the Republic. 

The health of Virginia was generally improved by the open- 
ing of the forests, and though of the new emigrants " many 
were landed men in England and have good estates there," 
few, we are told, ever desired to return.^ This accession was 
to some extent offset by Berkeley's expulsion of the Puritans 
on Elizabeth and Nansemond rivers, who to the number of 
i,ooo left Virginia in 1649, ^"d settled in Maryland. Never- 
theless, by 1652 the population of Virginia had certainly 
reached upwards of 20,000. 

The execution of Charles I., in 1649, created much indig- 
nation at Jamestown, and the assembly, largely influenced by 
the newcomers, denounced the act as murder and proclaimed 
Charles II. as king. This brought the colony into direct 
collision with Parliament, and in 1651 a fleet was dispatched 
to reduce it to terms, whereupon, Governor Berkeley called 
out the train bands and prepared to resist. But the council 
and assembly meeting at Jamestown in March, 1652, con- 
vinced of the hopelessness of the king's cause, overruled the 
governor and made an honorable accommodation. The 
Virginians, for their part, recognized- the authority of the 
commonwealth of England, and promised to pass no statute 
contrary to the laws of Parliament ; while the commissioners 
accepted the submission of Virginia, " as a voluntary act not 
enforced nor constrained by a conquest upon the countrey ;" 
and conceded her right " to be free from all taxes, customs, 
and impositions whatever, not enforced by the General 
Assembly." In particular, it was stipulated that " Virginia 
should have and enjoy the antient bounds and lymitts granted 
by the charters of the former kings." Berkeley retired to his 
country residence " Greenspring," distant three miles from 
Jamestown ; and Richard Bennett succeeded him at the head 
of affairs and was governor for three years. 

March 30, 1655, Sir William Berkeley sold^ to Bennett the 
westermost brick house of the state house block, but the 
next year all three tenements were burned, and after this, 
for several years, the assembly occupied, it is believed, near 



'^ Leah and Rachel (Force, Tracts, III., No. xiv). 
2 Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 363-367. 
^ Ibid., I., 407. 



The English at Jamestown. 6i 

the ruined structures, a rented or purchased house, which, in 
1660, fell a victim also to the flames. 

March 31, 1655, Edward Digges, of " Bellfield," on York 
River, fourth son of Sir Dudley Digges, master of the rolls 
to King Charles I., succeeded Bennett as governor, and 
chiefly distinguished himself in silk culture, employing two 
Armenians in the work; but Digges, like his predecessors, 
failed to turn the inhabitants away from their favorite occu- 
pation of tobacco raising. 

While Digges was governor, a ship landed in \'irginia the 
first two Quaker preachers, Josiah Cole and Thomas Thurston, 
whose bold harangues calling on men to repent, as John the 
Baptist did in the wilderness, incurred for them the vigorous 
opposition of the authorities. They were arrested and con- 
fined in a prison at Jamestown, which is described^ as " a dirty 

dungeon where wc have not the benefit to do what nature 
requireth, nor so much as air to blow in at a window, but 
close made up Avith brick and lime." 

Digges was succeeded in March, 1658, by Samuel Mathews 
of " Denbigh," who died in January, 1660, during the time of 
anarchy in England following the resignation of Richard 
Cromwell from his office as lord high protector. The 
burgesses assumed the supreme power in Virginia, and in 
March, 16C0, recalled Sir \\'il]iam Berkeley to the govern- 
ment. Two months later. General Monk proclaimed Charles 
II. in London, and the example was followed at Jamestown by 
Sir William Berkeley, September 20, when the following 
proclamation- was issued : 

By his Matyes Govern'" and Captain Generall of Virginia : 

Itt is thought fitt & accordingly ordered for the speedy & better dispatch 

of all Affaires tending to the peace and welfare of this collony and the 

Inhabitantes yereof that all officers whatever within this Countrey doe 

remaine & continue wiyin their severall offices until furyer Order to y<^ 

contrary. 

^ Neill, Virginia Carolonim, 285. 

2 Published for the first time from York County records in William 
and Mary Coll. Quarterly, I., 196. 



62 The Cradle of the Republic. 

And, forasmuch as it hay pleased Ahnighty God to Invest our most 
Gratious Soveraigne, Charles the Second, King of England, Scotland, 
ffrance, & Ireland in the dominions & Just Rights of his Royall ffayer 
of Ever Sacred Memory. These are, therefore. In his Alatyes Name 
strictly to chardge and comand you and every of you fforthwiy to cause 
the said King to be proclaimed in every of y'^' respective Counties, and 
that all Writts and warrants from henceforth Issue in his Majestyes 
name. Hereof faile not as you will answer y^ contrary at yo^' uttermost 
perile. Given at James Citty under my hand this 20th of Septemb'", 
sixteen hundred and sixty. 

William Berkeley. 

As Virginia had been the asylnm of many fugitive loyalists, 
the joy produced by the Restoration w^as great. Throughout 
the colony music, drinking, and the firing of guns were the 
order of the day, and this is evidenced by entries in the York 
County levy-^ in i66i : 



YORK COUNTY LEVY 1661.') 

/ Lbs. tobacco. 
At y^ proclaiming of his sacred Malesty 

To ye HonWe Govn.r ^ a barrell powd^' 112 lbs 00996. 

To Cap*, ffox six cases of drams 00900. 

To Capt. ffox for his great Gunnes 00500. 

To Ml'. Philip Malory 00500. 

To ye trumpeters 00800. 

To Ml-. Hansford 176 gallons Syd''. at 15, and 35 gall at 20: 

caske 264 03604. 

Among the cavaliers living in Virginia at the Restoration, 
or shortly before it, were Sir Thomas Lunsford, lieutenant 
of the Tower of London; Rev. Alexander Murray, former 
companion of Charles II., in his wanderings, and afterwards 
in 1673 minister of Ware parish in Gloucester Co.; Col. Main- 
waring Hammond ; Sir Philip Honeywood ; Col. Guy Moles- 
worth, who had received twenty-five wounds while battling 
for the king; Francis Moryson, Richard Moryson, and 
Robert Moryson, brothers-in-law of Lucius Gary, Lord Falk- 
land ; John Woodward, assay-master of the mint, and 
Thomas, his son, afterwards surveyor general of North 
Carolina; Anthony Langston, ensign in Prince Maurice's 
regiment; Major Richard Fox; Major John Brodnax ; 
Nicholas Dunn, chief clerk of the king's kitchen; Alexander 
Culpeper, brother of Lady Berkeley, whose father " lost all 
his estate, life and liberty '' for the king; Dr. Jeremiah Harri- 

i William and Mary Coll. Quart., I., 196. 



The English at Jamestown. 



63 



son and his wife Frances Whitgreave, whose father, Thomas 
Whitgreave, saved the hfe of Charles II. at the battle of 
Worcester ; Peter Jenings " who faithfully served his 
]\Iajesty's father;" Sir Dudley Wyatt, an officer in the royal 
army, who died at Jamestown in 1650; Sir Gray Skipwith, 
baronet, son of Sir Henry Skipwith of Prestwould in Leices- 
tershire ; Sir Henry Chicheley, brother to Sir Thomas Chich- 
eley of Charles II. 's privy council ; and Sir Henry Moody, 
who died about 1662 at Col. Francis Moryson's house in 
Virginia. In token of the loyalty as well as importance 
of the colony, King Charles gave V^irginia a new seal, which 
recognized her in the number of his kingdoms by the words 
En dat Virginia Oiiintuni. England, France, Scotland and Ire- 
land were four kingdoms to 
which he laid claim, and Vir- 
ginia made the fifth (Ouintum 
Regnum ) . 

After the Restoration, Berke- 
ley visited King Charles in 
England, leaving Francis Mory- 
son as acting governor, and on 
his return, a year later, brought 
with him instructions to induce 
the planters in Virginia to 
make silk, flax, hemp, pitch and 
potashes and build a city on 
every river. Accordingly, the 
general assembly in December, 1662, passed an elaborate law,^ 
for building James City, and the terms were a significant com- 
mentary upon the attempt so long persisted in. The place had 
been occupied for fifty years, and yet the provisions of the act 
proceeded as if the foundations of the place had yet to 
be laid. 

The act provided that the town to be built should consist of 
thirty two brick houses, each " forty foot long and twenty foot 
wide " within the walls, and " eighteen foot " high with a slate 
or tile roof " fifteen foot " pitch. The bricks were to be statute 
bricks, and to cost, per thousand, 150 pounds of tobacco, and 
brickmakers were to receive — in addition to their diet, wood 




SEAL OF VIRGINIA 1661. 



^ Hening, Statutes at Lar,^e, II., 172. 



64 The Cradle of the Republic. 

for burning the bricks, and the help of six laborers — forty 
pounds of tobacco for every thousand of bricks " moulded and 
burned." 

To expedite the work, each of the seventeen counties was 
required to build a house, and to every county or private con- 
tractor the promise was made of 10.000 pounds of tobacco 
gratis, to be paid out of a levy of thirty pounds per poll laid 
throughout the country. The erection of any more wooden 
houses, or even the repair of any already standing, was strictly 
forbidden ; and to encourage merchants and storekeepers, the 
/ /a . r^^ town was made the sole mart 
/^^. c4^UirPl^tra^i^ of the three counties of James 

''^ City, Charles City and Surry, 
and the sole place of shipment for their tobacco. 

Danger from an Indian attack was now deemed so remote 
that on September 17, 1663, it was debated^ in the general 
assembly " whether it was not fit to order the townsmen to 
pull up all the stakes of the old wars about Jamestown and to 
build no new ones in the face of the town." But we are told 
by Professor L. H. Girardin, in his Amocnhatcs GraphiccB 
that in 1803 " many yards of the palisades erected by the first 
settlers were still to be seen at low tide standing at least 150 
or 200 paces from the present shore." 




7Ut(o&u. oHcALi^ SCA — - 



If Col. Francis Moryson, the agent for \"irginia, is to be 
believed, " only four or five buildings " were the result up to 
1665 of our " poore assaye of building "" under the act of 
1662,^ but among these buildings was doubtless a new state 
house; since Thomas Ludwell, the secretary of state, writing 
during the same year, declared^ that in obedience to the king's 
instructions " they had begun a town of brick, and already built 
enough to accommodate the affairs of the country." 

The best built part of the town was east of the present 

1 Hening, Statutes at Large, II., 205. 

2 Neill, Fa. Carolonim, 205. 

■^ Yonge, The Site of Old Jamestotvne, 64. 



The English at Jamestown. 65 

Jaquelin-Ambler house, and there on the Back Street were the 
most substantial houses — among them Richard Kempe's 
house, and a brick house called the " Country House," for- 
merly belonging" to the colony, and sold by the general 
assembly to i\Iajor Richard Webster, who assigned it to 
Richard Rix, Avhose wddow Elizabeth, with her second hus- 
band, Edward Shipdam in behalf of John Rix, the heir-at-law, 
sold it to John Phipps, from whom it came to Captain John 
Knowles, the owner in 1665.^ This "Country House'' was like 
some of the houses in James City a block of three buildings,^ 




which is shown on a plat made for Knowles by Captain John 
Underbill, surveyor. Nearl}^ opposite to the " Country House " 
was Air. William May's house, and a short distance to the east 
was a house formerly belonging to Mr. John Phipps — then 
the property also of Captain John Knowles. On the west of 
the country house was Richard Kempe's old l^rick house, 
- enlarged by a brick addition of thirt}"-sevcn feet in width, 
made by Walter Chiles, Jr., who inherited it from his father, 
Col. Walter Chiles, to whom Sir William Berkeley had sold it 
'^' in 1650. Southw'cstward of William May was John Fitchett's 
house, and on the river bank to the south of Mav was, it is 
believed, the turf fort erected a year or two before as the 
result of a scare springing from a conspiracy of the servants.^' 

A list of those who obtained patents in " New Towne '' from 
.' 1654 to 1665 would include John Barber, Robert Castle, 
Thomas AVoodhouse. Thomas Hunt, Jolm Phipps, John 
Fitchett. John Knowdes, and \\^illiam Harris. 

Outside of " Xew Towne " the Island was chiefly held as 
follows : ( I ) John Bauldwin had a tract near the block house 

1 Deed in Ambler HISS, in Congressional Librar}'. "Country house''' 
meant a house belonging to the country, i. e., the Colony. 

2 Houses were built in this way in order to save two walls in six. 

3 Hartwell, Blair and Chilton, Present State of rirginia, 56. 



56 The Cradle of the Republic, 

reputed at first to be fifteen acres and sixty-nine poles, but 
subsequently found by a new survey to be twenty-eight and 
one-half acres, (2) Richard James had 150 acres east of 
Bauldwin and north of Pitch and Tar Swamp; (3) Nicholas 
Meriwether had the "Island House" Tract of eighty acres, pur- 
chased in 1656 from Nathaniel Bacon and Elizabeth, his wife, 
daughter and heiress of Richard Kingsmill. This was situated, 
as already stated, east of Richard James between Back River 
and Kingsmill's Creek; (4) John Knowles had about 133 acres 
south of Richard James and north of " New Towne," where 
besides the " Country House," he owned Dr. John Pott's old 
tract of twelve acres and other property ; (5) John Senior had 
150 acres in the eastern section of the Island near Passmore's 
Creek; (6) Edward Travis, son of Edward Travis and Ann 
Johnson, daughter of John Johnson, an early settler in the 
east end, had 326 acres beginning at Black Point; (7) Walter 
Chiles had seventy acres south of Edward Travis; and (8) 
William May had 100 acres at Goose Hill. 

The new state house stood at the west end of the Island on 
the third ridge. 

On March 12, 1673, the following action^ took place at 
Jamestown : 

Present : Sir William Berkeley, Governor ; Thomas Ludwell, Secre- 
tary. Edward Digges and Col. Nathaniel Bacon, Esquires: 

Upon the Peticon of the several inhabitants of James City Island, it 
is ordered that all marsh lands vmpatented in James City Island forever 
hereafter be and remain in common for a pasture to the use of those 
who now, or shall hereafter, live in the said Island or towne. 

It appears from this order that there was no town govern- 
ment in Jamestown, but that, like our present city of Wash- 
ington, the authorities were the general authorities of the 
whole country. 

For the year 1676, famous as the year of Bacon's Rebellion, 
there are descriptions of the town from two different sources. 
According to one description found in the report of the com- 
missioners sent over to enquire into the causes of the out- 
break, Jamestown " consisted of twelve new brick houses and 
a considerable number of framed houses with brick chimneys, 
besides a brick church and state house." 

1 Randolph MSS. 



The English at Jamestown. 67 

Then in Mrs. An. Cotton's "Bacon's Prosecdings,"^ the 
Island is described as follows : 

The place on which the towne is built is a perfect Peninsulla or tract 
of land allmost wholly incompasst with water : haveing on the sowth 
side the river (formerly Powhetan, now called James River) 3 miles 
brode incompasst on the North, from the Easte pointe with a deep 
creek rangeing in a cemicircle, to the west, within 10 paces (50 ft.) 
of the River; and there by a small Istmos tackt to the Continent. 
This Iseland (for so it is denominate) hath for Longitude (East and 
West) nere upon two miles, and for Latitude about halfe so much, 
bearing in the wholl compass about 5 miles, littlle more or less. It 
i;: low ground, full of Marches and Swomps, which make the Aire 
especially in the summer insalubritious and unhelthy. It is not at 
all replenished with springs of fresh water, and that which they have 
in their wells, brackish, illsented, penurious and not gratefull to the 
stomack which render the place improper to endure the commence- 
ment of a seige. The Town is built much about the midle of the sowth 
line close upon the River, extending east and west about 3 quarters 
of a mile ; in which is comprehended some 16 or 18 houses, most as 
is the church built of brick, faire and large ; and in them about a do:sen 
familccs (for all their lioivses are not inhabited) getting their livei)igs 
by keeping of ordnaries, at extrcordnary rates. 

From this latter account it appears that the ambitious design 
of the thirty-two new brick houses contemplated by the act of 
1663 was never fully realized. The people did not care for 
towns, and regarded the work at Jamestown as a mere excuse 
for taxes. Doubtless, the prominent men of the colony fully 
realized the impracticability of town building in Virginia, but 
their anxiety to please the English authorities induced the 
general assembly not only to favor town building, but to 
acquiesce in the extensive projects proposed b}^ Berkeley about 
the same time for building courthouses, prisons, churches, 
public roads, forts, warehouses, etc. ; and the burdens which 
these improvements imposed created widespread discontent, 
which was heard from later on. 

At the time of Bacon's Rebellion, there lived at Jamestown 
two particular friends of the rebel leader, Richard Lawrence, 
a " thoughtful gentleman," who had been a student at Oxford 
University, and William Drummond, a Scotchman, who acted 
under .Sir William Berkeley's appointment as first governor 
of North Carolina. Elizabeth Lawrence, wife of the former, 
had been a rich widow, and kept one of the ordinaries 
referred to by ]\Irs. An. Cotton, being very popular with 
persons of the " best quality " in the colony. Ller home was 

1 Force, Tracts, L, No. xi, p. 25. 



68 The Cradle of the Republic. 

situated^ on the third ridge near the new state house ; and 
west of the churchyard was a half acre lot- belonging to Sarah 
Drummond (wife of William Drummond) to whom it was 
given in 1661 by Edward Prescott (probably her father). 

Bacon's Rebellion is probably the most dramatic episode 
to be found in the history of the English colonies. Tobacco 
had been steadily declining in price, and the operation of the 
navigation act passed first in 1651 caused a continuous 
further reduction. Then titles to lands were rendered very- 
uncertain by extensive grants to court favorites, and there was 
a heavy burden of taxation due to the extravagance of officials 
in Virginia. Tlie same assembly continued for fourteen years,, 
and by it taxes were imposed, as we have seen, for towns that 
never flourished, and for public utilities that exceeded the 
needs of the people and cost three times as much as they were 
worth. To all these things were added invasions, in 1667 and 




AUTOGRAPH OF NATHANIEL BACON, THE REBEL. 

''-^73^ by Dutch fleets, which destroyed the shipping in the 
river, and the ravages of a great storm in the former year, 
which blew down 15,000 houses, principally tobacco barns, in 
Virginia and Maryland. At length, in 1676, matters were 
brought to a crisis by troubles with the Indians, who com- 
mitted many murders on the frontiers of the settlements, which 
stretched at that time to the falls of the different rivers. The 
people begged Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., of Curls, in Henrico. 
Countv, to protect them ; and he, after petitioning Governor 
Berkelev in vain for a commission, went out against the 
Indians on his own authority. He won a great victory over the 
Occaneeches on an island in the Roanoke River ; and on his 
return home was elected to the new assembly which convened 
at Jamestown June 5, 1676. Berkeley resented Bacon's fight- 
ing without his authority, and, when the latter came to the 

1 Va. Land Register, VIIL, 400. 

2 Ibid., v., 634. 



The English at Jamestown. 69 

assembly, he had him arrested for high treason ; but as 
Bacon's friends were very numerous. Berkeley soon let him 
go, and restored him to his seat in council. 

The conciliation was not cordial, and after a few days 
Bacon, fearing that his life was in danger, secretly left James- 
town and hurried home to Henrico. Here his neighbors 
thronged around him, and begged him to lead them down to 
Jamestown. Bacon consented, and on June 23, he was again 
at the Island, this time with 500 men at his back. Yielding to 
force, the governor gave him a commission, and the legis- 
lature passed some verv wholesome laws, correcting many 
long standing abuses ; and among them was one making the 
bounds of " James Citty " include the whole Island as far as 
Sandy Bay, and giving the people within those limits the 
right for -the first time of making their own local ordinances. 

Bacon returned to Henrico, and was on the eve of going 
out a second time against the Indians, wdien news arrived that 
Berkeley was over in Gloucester Co., endeavoring to raise 
forces to surprise and capture him. This caused him to give 
up his expedition, and to direct his march to Gloucester, wdiere, 
being arrived, he found that the governor had fled to Aecomac. 
Bacon thus left supreme summoned the leading men of the 
colony to Middle Plantation, and there on August i made them 
swear to stand by him. even as against soldiers sent from Eng- 
land, saying "500 A'irginians might beat 2,000 red coats." ^ 
After this his next move was to lead his troops against the 
Pamunkeys, whom he discovered and defeated in the recesses 
of the Dragon Swamp,- somewhere in King and Queen 
County. But his troubles did not end, and when he returned 
to the settlement, he found the governor once more established 
at Jamestown. 

Bacon made straight for his antagonist, and, having arrived 
on September 13 in " Paspahegh Old Eields," across from the 
Island, found that Berkeley had fortified the isthmus on the 
Island side. Pie caused his men to throw up some earthworks ; 

1 Bacon's conversation with John Goocle, in Fiske, Old Virginia and 
her Neighbours, II., 71-7.S. The author remembers, as a boy, that the 
boast was frequently made on his father's plantation in i86i"that "one 
Virginian could whip four Yankees" (!), the exact proportion repre- 
sented in Bacon's remarks. 

~ William and Mary Coll. Quart., XIII., 194. 



70 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



and in an engagement on the neck soon after killed some of 
Berkeley's soldiers, which so disheartened the rest that they 
took ship and abandoned Jamestown. Bacon, thereupon, 
entered the town, and, supposing that Berkeley would soon 
return, gave orders for its destruction, setting the example by 
applying a torch to the church, while Lawrence and Drum- 
mond, his two most important supporters, fired their own 






j0i^ 



Wmui ^e/rlu 




houses. In the general conflagration, the state house and 
church perished with the other buildings, but Drummond did 
a good deed in saving the public records. 

Berkeley, driven from Jamestown, made the house of Col. 
John Custis in Northampton County his headquarters, while 



The English at Jamestown. 71 

Bacon after pillaging Greenspring marched to Gloucester and 
encamped at Major Pate's house, near Poropotank Creek, 
liere he was taken sick, and died October 26, 1676, and the 
Rebellion being without a real leader soon collapsed. It con- 
tinued, however, for a few months longer under Ingram and 
Walklate, but they soon made haste to ensure their own safety 
by surrendering West Point in January, 1677. Lawrence who 
was at the " Brick Blouse " opposite, informed of the 
treachery, fled to the forest, and was never heard of again ; but 
Drummond was taken and presented to Berkeley at King's 
Creek, January 19, 1677, the day he first set foot on the west- 
ern shore after the flight from Jamestown in September 
previous. When Drummond Avas brought before him, Berkeley 
said with mock politeness: "Mr. Drummond, I am more glad to 
see you than any man in Virginia. You shall hang in half an 
hour.'' And he was true to his word, for the next day he caused 
Drummond to be hanged at the Middle Plantation, seven 
miles distant. Berkeley called an assembly to meet at Green- 
spring, February 20, at which time all the laws passed by the 
previous June assembly were repealed. At this assembly 
a petition was presented from York County for making Middle 
Plantation the seat of government, but the assembly gave 
their preference to TindalTs Point (Gloucester Point). ^ 

In the meantime, a new authority had established itself in 
Mrginia. When the news of Bacon's Rebellion reached Eng- 
land, the king sent over a commission, composed of Col. Her- 
bert Jefl:"re3^s, Col. Francis J\Ioryson and Sir John Berry, 
authorized to enquire and report regarding" the causes of the 
disturbances. They arrived in James River February 2, 1677, 
and were accompanied b}^ a thousand troops, who were con- 
veyed to Jamestown and encamped there during the rest of the 
Winter and most of the ensuing Spring. Jeltre3^s had a com- 
mission to succeed Berkeley, but coming as he did after 
hostilities had ceased, neither he nor his troops had any occa- 
sion to exercise their courage. Jamestown being in ruins, the 
commissioners made the residence of Col. Thomas Swann at 
Swann's Point over against Jamestown their headquarters, but 
when Berkeley left for England, Jefl^reys, now governor, 
marched the soldiers to IMiddle Plantation, where they took 

1 Heningf, Staiiitcs at Large, II., 405. 



/^ 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



part in celebrating a peace with the Indian chiefs on his 
Majesty's birthday May 14, 1677. 

While the soldiers were in camp at Jamestown, some of 
them had a curious experience, which may be worth narrat- 
ing. Among the plants of native growth was a weed named 
after the town itself — the well-known Jamestown ( " Jimson ") 
weed, which sprang up in the early Spring in the rich ground 
under the shadow of the burned walls. Some of the soldiers 
boiled the new sprouted leaves for salad and ate of it plenti- 






\ 



FRANCES CULPEPER, LADV BERKELEY. 

fully, and it turned them " natural fools." One soldier would 
blow a feather up in the air. and a second would rush furiously 
forward and tire himself out darting straws at it. A third 
stripped himself naked, sat in a corner, and made faces at all 
wdio passed ; while a fourth, taking an amorous turn, kissed 
and caressed his companions, and leared in their faces. The 



The English at Jamestown. 73 

fit lasted for eleven days, and during- a part of the time these 
soldiers were confined to prevent their doing themselves 
injury. Such is the stor}- as told by Beverley.^ but it is more 
than likely the soldiers were playing a joke, as the Jamestown 
weed, while it has remarkable cooling powers which are use- 
ful in reducing inflammation, is not believed to have any 
dangerous characteristics such as Beverley describes. 

The following persons- were reported to Jeffreys and the 
other two commissioners as the heaviest losers b}- the burn- 
ing of Jamestown: "Col. Thomas Swanne who had a house 
burned and ye Goods in it; Major Theophilus Hone, who had 
also a laouse and goods destro}-ed by the fire; Mr. Will Sher- 
wood and the orph.an of one ^Ir. James, whose house was burnt 
downe by the rebell Lawrence, and the losse estimated at least 
at 1,000 £ sterling. There are Divers other poor Inhabitants 
whose pticular names and losses wee cannot give in, that were 
great sufferers by this calamity that befell James Citty after 
the Governor and his party left it." The total value of all pri- 
vate propertv destro}-ed in the town was estimated at " 1,500,- 
000 pounds of tobacco" (about £30,000 sterling in present 
value.) 

In December, 1678, Jeft'reys died, and was succeeded by Sir 
Idenry Chicheley, and in Alarch, 1679, the privy council of 
England, on the recommendation of the commissioners, ordered 
that Jamestown be rebuilt and be the metropolis of Mrginia, 
" as the most ancient and convenient place." Accordingly, 
when Eord Culpeper was appointed to the head of affairs in 
A^irginia, he brought with him instructions to rebuild James- 
town, and the members of the council were requested to erect 
houses and dAvell there. The need of ports of entry in other 
rivers induced the further recommendation that a town be 
built in the valley of each of the principal water courses.-'^ 

Culpeper arrive-d in the colony in ]\Iay, 1680, and the general 
assembly which met him at Jamestown passed an act"' to con- 
demn fifty acres for a town in every county in the colony. 
The purchase price of the land in each place was to be 



^Beverley, J'irginia, no. 

^V.a. Magazine, V., 68. . 

^ Bruce, Economic History of rirgiiiia. II., 547- 

^ Hening, Stattitcs at Large, II., 471. 



74 The Cr.\dle of the Republic. 

10,000 pounds of tobacco ; and, as an encouragement to settlers, 
the towns were made the sole places of import and export for 
the respective counties. Half an acre of land was offered to 
every person building a residence and warehouse and paying 
down 100 pounds of tobacco ; and all brickmakers and other 
laborers were declared free from arrest for debt. 

As this act would have operated as a great hardship upon 
Jamestown, the inhabitants through William Sherwood, 
Thomas Clayton, and William Harrison presented a petition 
against it, a rude copy of which, as preserved in the Ambler 
MSS., reads as follows : 

To the Honble [ ] embly of Virga; 

The Inhabts & freeholders of James Citty : 
Humbly pfsent 

That ye sd. Citty accordi[n]g to Capt Smiths discovery of 

Virga; vvas dated in ye yeare [i]6o7 & hath ever since beene 

jjd this ye seate [o]f ye cheife Co^'ts of Judicature, & metropolis of 

Act was this his Mamies Cclcny Country & dominion yett ylts] 

drawne vp ccrtaine limittes & boundes, hath not b[y] any publiq A[c]t 

& Passed or Instrument beene ascert[a]in'd, although b[y] report of 

A^"*'i682 y*^ ancient Inhabts : itt be[g]ins att ye Sandy Bay & soe 

includes all ye La^ Island, feetw«55« Riv-e-r & Creeke ff-3fn 

All ye tbsnc-C— ic— ye-run or slush by-Wr-Briscof— y^^SmitJ^ r ?- "/y" 

Island to y^ bac4i Creefee. We humbly pray yt y[e] said bounds 

may be ascertain'd by Act of Assembly. 

And [wjhereas by one A[c]t of y® last Sessions, of Ass^ly itt 

was enioyned yt 50 acres of land should be laid out for a 

Town in James Citty att ye rate of loooo li tobco : We 

humbly inform yor hours ; yt ye land in Ja the sd. Citty is 

of considerable value & not an acre there but cost above 5I' 

ster' besides our great charg in building. And therefore we 

humbly ppoase, yt we & ye owners of the land in ye sd. 

Citty may have libty to build store bowses there (in case 

itt be enioyned & if we fayle, that then any others may have 

land for l-and assigned y™ : by ye County Co^t : vpon paymt of soe 

mils is to rnirch as ye land se-^ral-'t^-^t shall be valued att, by an able 

be valued jm-y, accordiug to ye Law & presidentes of Engl<i in ye like 

ju ''^^'^ cases. And yt ye whole Islande may be assigned to build 

on. 

And for yt itt is our desyer yt all Nusances & corrupcons of 
ye Air may be hereafter removed: & ye Citty for ye future 
kept clean & d&l decent wch can not well be don without a 
Law [ ]se, & ye pticuler ways and means to 

effect ye same [ ]o tedious & troublesome for th 

yor hours to direct & sett dCowln, We humbly pray yt as 
Liberty is given to ye seui'all Countys of this Colony to 
make by laws: soe authority may be given to ye sd. Citty* 
to make such By laws as shall be agreed on by ye major pt 
of ye freeholders & howsekeeps thereof, for ye better gov- 
erning & conueniency of ye sd Citty & InhabitantCs] thereof: 
A wh And whereas there is a Marsh in James Citty Island 



The English at Jamestown. 



75 



not hitherto taken vp or pattented by any, wcb by ordr of the 
Rt: honble; ye Governr & Councill, was & is to lye in Comon 
for all ye Inhabts; of James Citty, we humbly praCy] that 
the said order of ye Gen^ Court may be confirmed by Act 
of Assembly : 

Wm Sherwood, Tho Claton, W™ Harrison 
Copa: pet Ja : Citt : 1682. 

It will be noticed that this petition before erasure made the 
hmits of the town — James River, Back Creek and Orchard 
Run. 

The suspension of the act by the king, in 1684, reheved the 
inhabitants of Jamestown of the hardships complained of ; and, 
by the marginal notation on the paper above, it appears also 
that their prayer for self-government was granted in April, 
1682, though there is no record preserved of any town meet- 
ings at Jamestown or of any ordinances passed by local au- 
thority. In 1683, Lord Culpeper wrote that he had given all 
the encouragement possible for the rebuilding of Jamestown, 
and though his own residence was at Greenspring, the auditor, 
Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., had lately built two very good dwellings 
there, and Col. Joseph Bridger and Mr. William Sherwood 
" were going about severall wch will bee finished this or the next 
yeare, and there are severall others marked out for building." 
That he had, however, no great hopes was shown by a remark 
which slipped from his pen in the same paper : " nothing but 
profitt and advantage " can make a city of Jamestown.^ As to 
markets in the colony he 
said : " there were none 
except a most sad one at 
James Citty." 

Cul'peper left the 
colony in May, 1684, 
and was succeeded by 
Lord Howard, of Effing- 
ham, under whom the 
state hou'se was re- 
stored ; and then followed Col. Francis Nicholson in 1690 and 
Sir Edmund Andros in 1692, which last remained governor 
till 1698. House building at Jamestown continued during all 
these dififerent administrations, and the result in 1697 was 

1 Culpeper's Report in McDonald Papers, Vol. VI., 165. 




76 The Cradle of the REruBLic. 

reported by Dr. Blair to the Lords of Trade, when he said 
there was about " twenty or thirty houses at, Jamestown." The 
new state house and the new church included in this number 
were respectively the fourth and fifth in time Of construction. 

As sho\\'n by the land patents, the ownership of the Island, 
in 1697, was as follows: 

In the west end William Sherwood had all the land between 
James River, Back River, Pitch and Tar Swamp and Kings- 
mill's Creek, amounting" to about 378 acres secured from time 
to time as follows: 120 acres l}'ing north and east of "New 
Towne," purchased in 1677 from David Newell, brother and 
heir of Jonathan Newell who got it from John Knowles ; 
twcnt\--eight and one-half acres near the block-house 
formerly John Bauldwin's, purchased the same year from 
John Fulcher ; 150 acres formerly Richard James's, .lying 
between Pitch and Tar Swamp and Back River, which 
escheated on the death of Richard James, Jr., and was patented 
by. Sherwood in 1690; and 80 acres known as "the Island, 
Plouse " tract, purchased in 1695 from Francis Meriwether, 
the son of Nicholas IMeriwether, who obtained it as already 
noticed from Nathaniel Bacon and his wife Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of Richard Kingsmill.^ Pitch and Tar Swamp, which was 
included in AMlliam Sherwood's land, contained 150 acres and 
was described in the following language^ by Rev. John Clay- 
ton, who was minister of Jamestown from 1684 to 1686: 

Even ill Jamestown Island, which is much-what of an oval Figure, 
there is a Swamp runs diagonal-wise over the Island, whereby is lost 
at least 150 Acres of Land, which would be Meadow, and would turn 
to as good account as if it were in England. Besides it is the great 
Annoj'ance of the Town, and no doubt but makes it more vmhealthy. 
If, therefore, they but scoured the Channel, and made a pretty ordinary 
Trench all along the middle of the Swamp, placed a Since at the 
mouth, where it opens into the Back Creek ; for the mouth of the 
Channel there is narrow, has a good hard Bottom, and is not past two 
Yards deep when the Flood is out ; as if Nature had designed it be- 
forehand : they might thus drain all the Swamp absolutely dry, or lay 
it under Water at their pleasure. I have talked several times hereof 
to Mr. Sherwood, the Owner of the Swamp, j'et nothing is essayed 
in order thereto. 

On the third ridge, in 1697, near the river was the powder 
magazine recently erected, and near it was the " Country 

1 See Ambler ]\ISS. in Library of Congress; J'irgiiiia Land Register. 
^Letter of John Clayton. Force, Traets, III., xii, 23. 



The English at Jamestown. 



17 



''^■" J ?'>=^.-~ /jGa- 'Cp-^-yi '^U-i c-/' ;/.'.- 



A 



(>ria 



•f ?■ 












£-pr?-3:(r^ ^^-(^^-^ ^^f^.^ZIit Ao Qj t^/^ /"^ /G«V <^^>W 






'^"^2^9 ^W ::^^^" 







^Vi.*-''" ■-*-\?' 




Meriwether's deed for willtam may's house and lot to 
major william white. 



78 The Cradle of the Republic. 

House," joining which last were the ruins of three brick 
houses, belonging to Philip Ludwell, jun., standing in a lot of 
one and one-half acres. ^ West of these ruined houses (burned 
probably in Bacon's Rebellion) was the state house, which 
was separated by the main road from a lot of three acres, one 
rood, and three poles patented- in 1694 by Robert Beverley. 
Then east of Beverley's property was a lot, patented^ in 1683 
by Col. Nathaniel Bacon, Sen., first cousin once removed of 
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., " the Rebel." It comprised three and 
three-eighths acres, and was a part of a lot formerly belonging 
to Richard Lawrence, wdio, " being guilty of high treason 
against his Majestry, not daring to abide his trial, fled for the 
same, whereby all his goods, chattels, lands and tenements are 
forfeited to his Majesty." 

Lawrence's or Bacon's lot thus referred to stretched across 
the low ground between the third and fourth ridges to a lot 
on the latter elevation, also belonging to Col. Bacon and cover- 
ing most of the eastern part of the present Confederate fort. 

On the fourth ridge, at the southwest point of the Island, 
adjoining the brick fort, were two acres and seventeen chains 
formerly patented"' in 1683 by Edward Chilton, then clerk 
of the council, and in 1697, attorney general. Adjoining 
westerly were seventy and one-half perches of land patented"' 
in 1690 by William Edwards, Sen., whose western line corre- 
sponded with the eastern line of the Chilton tract. Next was 
Col. Bacon's land in the Confederate fort alread}^ referred to, 
and then a tract adjoining the churchyard of one hundred and 
seventy-two poles patented*^ in 1690 by John Howard. 

In that part of the town east of the church tower, first called 
" New Towne," the land on Orchard Run had come into the 
hands of James Chudleigh, who was the second husband of 
Ann Holder. She obtained it partly by gift from her first 

1 Va. Land Register, VIII. , 315. 

2 Ibid., VIII., 400. 

3 Ibid., VII., 300. 

4 Ibid., VII., 292. 

5 Ibid., VIII., 42. 
cibid., VIII., 82. 



rayrc^ L&y ^'^ oJ3d 



The English at Jamestown. 79 

husband's father, WiUiam Briscoe, Sen., a blacksmith, and 
partly by inheritance from her own father, Richard Holder. 
James Chudleigh's neighbor was William Edwards, Jr., son 
of William Edwards, clerk of the council, who had purchased 
from Chudleigh an acre of land on the river. ^ Thomas Holli- 
day had property adjoining Edwards, and next to him was 
Henry Hartwell, Esq., one of the council, whose western line 
was about 550 feet from Orchard Run and passed along the 
angular points of a trench which embraced two of the eastern 
bastions of "an old ruined turf fort" (the fort of 1663), 
Hartwell's house was the former residence of William May, 
who in 1670 left it by will to Nicholas IMeriwether, by whom 
it was deeded in 1677 to Major William White; and when the 
latter died without issue about 1686, the land escheated and 
was patented- in 1689 by Henry Hartwell, who married 
White's widow, Jane Meriwether, sister of Nicholas Meri- 
wether. At this time William Sherwood owned the lots on the 
north side of the old Back Street on which formerly stood 
the house known as Richard Kempe's and the " Country 
House," both burned in Bacon's Rebellion. He had 
bought the " Country House " lot in 1677 from David Newell, 
with the land already mentioned north and east of " New 
lowne," which Newell's brother bought from John Knowles ; 
and the three and one-half acres, containing the ruins of 
Squire Kempe's old brick building, he had obtained the same 
year from John Page, who in 1673 purchased them from Rev.' 
James W^adding and his wife Susannah, widow of Walter 
Chiles, Jr.2 William Sherwood resided on the country house 
lot, where as early as 1681 he is described as having builf* 
"a faire house and app(ur)t(enan)ces." 

'^Ambler l\ISS. in Library of Congress. 
2 Virginia Land Register, VII., 701. 
-Ambler MSS. 
^ J 'a. Land Register, VII., 98. 



8o Tpie Cradle of the Republic. 










(»tiJl- 



■JU>^^ 



•<®^^—> 



HENRY HARTWELL's DEED TO WJLLIAM EDWARDS FOR A EOT ON THE BANK 
OF THE RIVER ADJOINING THE TURF FORT. 



Tluis the town had been pretty well restored by 16.97, but 
the evil genius of misfortune still pursued it. In September, 
1698, King William superseded Sir Edmund Andros with 
Col. Francis Nicholson, and the instructions given him con- 
tained the usual orders " to rebuild and enlarge Jamestown ;" 



The English at Jamestown, 



8i 



but before he arrived in the colony a fire occurred October 31, 
1698, b_v which the state house, the prison, and probably all 
other buildings on the third ridge, except the magazine, which 
stood apart, were destroyed. In announcing the calamity to 
the Lords of Trade Governor Andros. congratulated himself 
that the records and papers had again been saved. 

In February, 1699, Nicholson wrote that it would require 
about £2,000 " to build a new court house where the house 
of burgesses also sat;*' 
but, ambitious to be the 
founder of a city, he se- 
lected jMiddle Plantation 
as the site of the proposed 
building. The last meet- 
ing of the assembly at 
James City v/as held in the 
liouse of ]\Irs. Sarah Lee, 
alias Smith, ^ and an act. 
was passed^ for removing 
the seat of government to 
IMiddle Plantation, whicli 
Nicholson named Will- 
iamsburg in honor of 
William III., king of 
England. This abandon- 
ment of the ancient seat 
of government must have 
produced with many a 

spirit of sa'dness, but Jamestovv'u had performed its mission, 
and could afford to be neglected. Plow totally unlike the feeble 
colony of 1607 was the \'irginia of 1699 with its population 
of 80,000, stretching to the foot of the mountains. And not 
Virginia alone was the exhibit, but all the other English 
colonies along the Atlantic coast, for they also owed the au- 
thority and inspiration of their existence to the heroic resi- 
dents of the little han:let of Jamestown. 




COL. JOHN PACE. 



1 Council Journal in Library of Congress. 

2 Hening, Statutes at Large, III., 197, 213, 471. 

6 




82 The Cradle of the Republic. 

The extinction of Jamestown as the capital of the colony 
was almost coincident with the deaths of the two largest landed 
proprietors on the Island — William Sherwood, and Edward 
Travis (third of that name). William Sherwood was born 

in the parish of 
White Chapel, Lon- 
don, was bred to the 
law and served in 
the office of Sir 
Joseph Williamson, 
England's secretary of state. As the resnlt of some youthful 
indiscretion committed against his patron, he came to Vir- 
ginia in 1668, where he conducted himself in such a manner as 
to w'in the good will, not only of Williamson, but of all who 
knew him. His first five years in the colony were spent as 
deputy sheriff of Surry County, and there is on record a 
declaration of the court testifying highly to his " discretion 
and integrity.''^ 

He removed to Jamestown, where he practiced law in the 
general court, and married Rachel James, widow of Richard 
James, one of the early land proprietors. He was present at 
Jamestown, when Bacon forced a commission from Berkeley, 
and wrote to Sir Joseph Williamson an interesting account of 
the affair. In ]\Iarch, 1678, he was appointed attorney 
general and served about two years, when he was succeeded 
by Edmund Jenings, Esq. He was coroner and justice of 
James City Co. ; and in 1684 and again in 1696 represented 
Jamestown in the house of burgesses. He died in 1697, and 
was buried in the churchyard at Jamestown, where a broken 
tombstone refers to him as " a great sinner waiting for a 
glorious resurrection" — words inscribed by the express di- 
rection of his will. 

The other proprietor, Edward Travis (son of Edward Travis 
and Elizabeth Champion, his wife, and grandson of Edward 
Travis and Ann Johnson), died November 12, 1700, and was 
buried in a trravevard at the east end of the Island, where his 



^ For William Sherwood see IVilliam and Alary Coll. Quart., V., 
51-53; X., 166. 



The English at Jamestown. 83 

tombstone may 3'et be seen. By his wife, Rebecca (born in 
1677), he had issue a son, Edward, who was fourth of the 
name from the original Travis emigrant. The rights of these 
two proprietors — Sherwood and Travis — were represented 
after their death by two new comers — Edward Jaquelin and 
Wihiam Brodnax. who married their respective widows, and 
by Edward Travis referred to above as son of Edward Travis 
and Rebecca, his wife. 

Jamestown, however, did not lose its historic character, and 
it is a noteworthy fact that in his address of welcome to the 
general assembly in Williamsburg delivered April 21, 1704, 
Governor Nicholson declared that three years hence he de- 
signed to celebrate a jubilee in honor of the centennial of the 
settlement at Jamestown — a suggestion, the consummation of 
which he never witnessed, because of his recall to England in 

1705- 

Nor did Jamestown lose at once its public character ; for 
after the removal of the seat of government it retained its 
representation in the assembly, and had a fort, county court 
liouse (made in 1706 out of the bricks of the old state 
house), a church and public ferry; but they all gradually 
passed away in the course of years, till after 1776 only the 
ferry remained. The fort went first, for, in 17 16, the place was 
visited by John Fontaine,^ who reported as standing at James- 
town only " a church, a court house, and three or four brick 
houses." There was also " a small rampart with embrasures," 
but it was deserted and gone to ruin. A 3'ear or two later, 
Williamsburg was made the site of a new court house for 
the county, and in 1722 Jamestown was described^ by Rev. 
Hugh Jones as " an abundance of rubbish with three or four 
inhabited houses." The church continued in use for many 
years longer, till in 1751-1758 it was also abandoned for one 
*' newly built " on the ATain,^ and in 1781 Thacher in his 
" Military Journal " reports only two houses as standing by the 
river side ; one of which must have been the manor house of 
I\Ir. John Ambler (great-grandson of Edward Jaquelin, pro- 

1 INIaury, Huguenot Faiuily, 271. 

2 Jones, Present State of rirginia, 25. 
^ Va. Magazine, V., 246. 



84 



The Cradle cf the Republic. 



prietor of the western end.) Before this, through the action 
of the state convention of 1776, the Island lost its representa- 
tion In the general assemhly. 

By the time of the Revolution, most of the land on the 
Island had been consolidated into the hands of the Amblers 
and Travises, as shown by the following history. Wil- 
liam Sherwood, having no children, bv his will, left all 

his land, with the exception 
of twenty-eight and one-half 
acres at Block House hill 
which he gave by deed to 
his nephew, John Jarrett), 
to his widow Rachel for 
life, and after her death to 
Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys, of 
London. Rachel Sherwood 
( previously Rachel, widow 
of Richard James), mar- 
ried Edward Jacjuelin, son 
of John Jaquelin, of Kent 
Co., England, and Elizabeth 
Craddock his wife ; and in 
1704, Jeffre3's 
surrendered all 
"■^""^ his title to Ra- 
chel's new hus- 
band, estimating 
the area at 400 acres. 

Jacjuelin built a house near the site of the house of Sir 
Francis Wyatt, and, surviving his first wife Rachel (who was 
old enough to be his mother), married secondly, in 1707, 
Martha Cary, daughter of William Cary, of Warv/ick Co., by 
whom he had three daughters to survive him viz. : (i) Martha, 
born January, 1711, died in 1804. aged ninety -three years, w"ho 
remained single and was known as " Lady Jacjuelin," on ac- 

ijaqnelin was born in 1668, but it seems from the Ambler MSS. that 
Rachel, his first wife, had by Richard James, her first husband " Richard 
born the 14th day of December, 1660." She afterwards married William 
Sherwood, and thirdly Edward Jaquelin, about 1697. Jaquelin was 
then about 29, while Rachel his wife must have been about 57. 




The English at Jamestown. 



85 




count of her high aristocratic ideas ; for it is said she waited 
for a duke or count to come over and address her. (2) Mary, 
born in 1714, and died Oc- 
tober, 4, 1764; married 
John Smith, of "Shooter's 
Hill," Middlesex Co., and 
had eight children among 
whom was Gen. John 
Smith, of " Hackwood." 
(3) Elizabeth, born Octo- 
ber, 1709, died 1756, mar- 
ried Richard -Vmblcr, col- 
lector of the port at 
Yorktown, son of John 
Ambler, of Comity York, 
England, and Elizabeth 
Bickadike, his wife. Jaque- 
lin died at Jamestown in 
1739, aged seventy-one 
years, and under his will 
Richard Ambler, his son-in-law, succeeded to his lands at the 
old metropolis. 

Six years later Ambler largely increased his estate by a pur- 
chase from Christopher Perkins of land, the history of which 
is as follows: About 1700 there came to the Island a gentle- 
man named William Brodnax, who was son of Robert 
Brodnax, a goldsmith of God- 
mersham in Kent Co., England, 
and a great nephew of Major 
John Brodnax, a cavalier offi- 
cer, wdio in 1657 died in York 
County, \'irginia. William Brodnax, who was born February 
28, 1675, married, soon after his arrival in A'irginia, the widow 
Rebecca Travis, and afterwards from time to time acquired an 
extent of interest in the Island represented by about 280 acres. 
This comprised the Howard lot of 172 poles by the church, the 
Beverlev tract of three acres, one rood and six poles on the 
third ridge, the old Bauldwin tract of twenty-eight and one- 
half acres near the connecting neck (given by Sherwood to his 



MARTHA (cARY) JAQUELIN. 





86 



The CradLe of the Republic. 



nephew, John Jarrett), twelve acres called "Thorny Ridge,"" 
the ferry formerly owned by Lt. Edward Ross, and two large 
tracts containing 107 and 127 7/10 acres respectively. The 
western boundary of the last named tract began " at a Ditch 
adjoining the market place in Jamestown,'' and ran thence 
north thirty-one degrees east six and one-quarter chains to. 
the " Garden pales of Richard Ambler, Esquire, formerly 
of Edward Jaquelin." ^ Brodnax died in February, 1726,, 
and after his death, the property above mentioned fell to his 
son William Brodnax, Jr., who in about ten years removed: 
to Prince George County, where he married Ann Hall. In- 
1744, William Brodnax and Ann, his wife, sold their interest 




a't Jamestown to Christopher Perkins, of Norfolk Count}-, and 
a year later Christopher Perkins and Elizabeth, his wife, sold 
all the lands thus devised to Richard Ambler. 

To the property thus acquired further additions of land 
were afterwards made by said Ambler — the most interesting 
of which was a half acre, portion of the three and one-half 
acres on which formerly stood Squire Kempe's old historic 
brick house, sold by John Page to William Sherwood in 1677. 
This lot was purchased- in 1753 by Ambler from Edward 
Champion Travis, who bought it of William Drummond, to, 
whom it was given by his father, William Drummond, Sr.,^ 



1 Deed in Ambler MSS. For Brodnax family, see William and Mary 
Coll. Quart., XIV., 52-q8. 

2 Deed in Ambler MSS. 

2 Son of William Drummond, of Bacon's Rebellion. 



The English at Jamestown. 



87 



and the last named bought it in 1701 from John Harris, to 
whom Wilham Sherwood sold it in 1696, describing" it as the 
property "late in the occupation of Secretary (Ralph) 
Wormeley," and as " beginning at a stake in the line of 
Omoone's land, formerly Fitchett's, and running along the 
south side of the mulberry trees 90 foot, thence northwardly 
toward the main road 40 foot, thence northwest near the 
main road to the corner of Omoone's land 100 foot, and 




AUTOGRAPH AND SEAL OF WILLIAM DRUMMOND, SR. 



SO along the line of Omoone's land to the place or stake it 
first began." 

Richard Ambler died at Yorktown in 1766, and his three 
sons, Edward, John and Jaquelin. shared his large estate be- 
tween them. To Edward was given his Yorktown property 
and extensive interests in Caroline, Hanover and Warwick 
counties, and to John the ferry at Jamestown and the negroes 
there, as well as all the land and houses on the Tsland except 
the land " between the Fort Hill and the churchyard and the 
houses erected thereon," which were willed to Jaquelin 
Ambler, who was also presented with £1,000 sterling in the 
hands of Samuel Athawes and company in London.^ 

John Ambler, who received most of his father's propertv at 
Jamestown, was born in Yorktown December 31, 1735, and 

was educated at Leeds Acad- 
emy, near Wakefield, in York- 
shire, and at the university of 
Cambridge and the Middle Temple, from which last he gradu- 
ated as barrister of law. After his return to America he was 
considered one of the most accomplished scholars in the 

^ Will of Richard Ambler in JVilliam and Mary Coll. Quart. , XIV., 
126. 



The Cradle cf the Republic. 



colony, and represented Jan.icstown in the general assembly 
in 1760 and 1765. Attacked by consumption, he went to 
Barbadoes for his health, but died there unmarried, May 2^, 
1766. His body was brought to Jamestown and deposited in 
the old graveyard at the church, and over his remains a 
splendid marble monument was placed, of which hardly any 
vestige now remains. 

After John Ambler's death, Edward Ambler inherited his 
brother's interests at Jamestown, and was one of the wealthiest 
men in Virginia. He was born in 1733, was schooled like his 
brother at Wakefield and at Cambridge, and finished his edu- 
cation by a " grand tour " of Europe. Returning to Virginia, 

he was made collector of 
York River, and married 
Mary Cary (daughter of 
Wilson Miles Cary, of 
Ceeley's in Elizabeth City 
Co.), who is said to have 
been " a sweetheart " of 
George Washington, her 
elder sister marrying 
George William Fairfax, 
Washington's intimate 
friend. Edward Ambler 
settled at Yorktown, but 
upon the death of his 
brother John, in 1766, he 
went to Jamestown to live, 
where he died October 30, 
1768, in the thirtieth year 
of his age, leaving his Jamestown estate to his wife Mary Amb- 
ler, during her widowhood. She remained there with her young 
children till 1777, when for greater safety she removed to 
" The Cottage " in Elanover, and continued there till her death 
in 1781.^ After this time the Ambler interests on Jamestown 
Lsland, which comprised nearly all the western portion as far 
as Passmore's Creek, fell to John Ambler, Edward Ambler's 
only surviving son, who was born September 25, 1762, and 

^ For Ambler family see William and Mary Coll. Quart. , IV., 49"; 
v., S4: Meade, Old Churches, etc.. I., 9^-110; Richmond Standard, 
Tan 20. 1889: Call, Reports. IV. 6o^ 




MARY C.VRY. 



The English at Jamestown. 



89 



married three times, viz.: (i) Frances Armistead, daughter 
of Gill Armistead of New Kent; {2) Lucy Marshall, sister of 
Chief Justice John Marshall; (3) Catherine, widow of John 
Hatley Xorton, and daughter of Philip Bush, of Winchester. 
He was a member of the house of delegates, and Lt.-Col. of 
State troops during the 
War of 1 81 2. Remov- 
ing from Jamestown, he 
lived hrst in Hanover 
County and then in Rich- 
mond, where he died April 
8, 1836, and was buried in 
Shockoe Hill cemetery. 

The Travis family, in 
the meantime, was repre- 
sented at Jamestown dur- 
ing the first ]jart of the 
eighteenth century by Ed- 
ward Travis, already re- 
ferred to as the fourth 
of that name. His son 
was Col. Edward Cham- 
pion Travis, who was born 
in 1/21, and married Sus- 
anna Hutchings, daughter of Col. Joseph Hutcliings, of Nor- 
folk, Col. Travis represented Janiestown in the house of bur- 
gesses in 1752, and other years, and died in lyyq. Champion 

Travis, the latter's son, was 

a member of tlie first state 

convention, and married 

Elizabeth Boush, daughter 

of Capt. Francis Boush, of 

Norfolk. As John Ambler 

was the last Ambler, so 

Champion Travis was the last Travis to live on the Lsland."^ 

July 4, 1781, Eord Cornwallis moved, at the head of his 

army, from Williamsburg, where he had his headquarters in 

the president's house at the college,- towards Jamestown 

1 For Travis family see William and Mary Coll. Oiiarl.. V., 16. 

2 Hunt, fragiiicnls of Revolutionary History, 45. 




JOHN AJIELER, 

Last proprietor of the name. 




jojn^ 



90 The Cradle of the Republic. 

with a view of crossing James River and retiring to Ports- 
mouth. La Fayette, who commanded an American army, 
hastened to fall on his rear, when Cornwallis should have 
passed over the river the greater part of his soldiers ; but Corn- 
wallis, suspecting the intention of his adversary, hid his main 
army in a dense pine wood near the " church on the Main,'' 
three miles from Jamestown and made a show of posting a few 
troops on the Island and at Jamestown Ford, where they could 
be seen. While making this disposition, he employed himself 
in transporting over the river his baggage of every description, 
which were mistaken by the American scouts for the army 
itself. La Fayette reached Greenspring in the morning of 
July 6, and, supposing that he had only Cornwallis's rear guard 
to deal with, left General Steuben with the main body of the 
militia at Greenspring, and marched to attack with the Con- 
tinental troops under General Wayne. The Americans 
crossed the causeway leading through the swamp from Green- 
spring to the Williamsburg road, and very soon came into 
collision with the main body of the British. Probably only 
the 'lateness of the evening saved them from a great defeat; 
they were repulsed, with a loss of ii8 men killed and wounded, 
and Cornwallis taking advantage of his victory, marched to 
Jamestown Island, and safely crossed the river with his army 
three days later. Some part of the earthworks cast up by 
him to protect the army in the woods may yet be seen on the 
right bank of Powhatan Creek on the Williamsburg road. 
Fifteen weeks later, Cornwallis, who had in the meantime 
moved over from Portsmouth, surrendered at Yorktown ; and 
thus Amercian Independence was won within twenty miles 
of the spot where English civilization was first permanently 
planted in America by the mother country. 

In the year 1807, the second centennial anniversary of the 
landing of the colonists was celebrated at Jamestown by the 
citizens of Williamsburg, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, 
Petersburg, and the surrounding country. There was present 
from Norfolk Captain Peter Nestell with his volunteer State 
artillery ; James C)'Connor, editor of the Norfolk and Ports- 
mouth Herald; the talented Thomas Blanchard and his son 
C. K. Blanchard; Major John Saunders, of the United States 



The English at Jamestown, 



91 



army, stationed at Fort Nelson. From Petersburg came John 
D. Burk, the historian ; from Wilhamsburg Chancellor 
Samuel Tvler, Bishop James Madison and many others. Con- 
spicuous among the older people were Colonel Thomas New- 
ton, of Norfolk, Colonel Champion Travis, of Jamestown, and 
Colonel Wilson Allies Cary, of Ceeley's, Elizabeth City County 
— surviving members of the Virginia Convention of 1776, 
which had been the first to declare for State independence 
and to recommend to con- 
gress and the other States 
similar action. 

The dawn of the 13th 
day of Alay, 1807, was 
ushered in by a salute from 
cannon, and the eye rested 
on an attractive picture at 
Jamestown. There were 
thirty-two vessels in the 
" crescent cove "' of the 
Lsland, and the crowd 
numbered about 2,000, 
among whom were over 
400 ladies. A procession 
was formed and the visitors 
marched in dignified man- 
ner to the graveyard of 
the old church, then rep- 
resented as now by its 
solitary brick tower ; and 
there Bishop ]\Iadison, standing on a tombstone, delivered an 
eloquent prayer. After this, the procession returned to the 
ground in front of Colonel Travis's house, where orations 
were delivered by Briscoe G. Baldwin and John Aladison, and 
odes by C. K. Blanchard and Leroy Anderson — all four stu- 
dents of William and IMary College. When these exercises 
were ended the ladies dined in the spacious apartments of 
the Travis mansion house, ^ and in the evening and night there 
were dances in the long room by the water side. 

1 From the reference to the location of the house it would appear 
that Col. Travis was then living; near the churchyard. 




BRISCOE G. BALDWIN, 

Orator at Jamestown in 1807. 



92 The Cradle of the Republic. 

The morning of the 14th, Hke that of the 13th, was ushered 
in hy cannon, and at eleven o'clock the visitors attended the 
funeral of a young man at the graveyard, who had fallen a 
victim to the heat and " the too free use of ice in cider." Next 
a meeting was held at which Thomas Newton presided, and 
several resolutions were adopted looking to making the 13th 
of AIa_\" an annual holidav for the State. 

On the 15th, the pilgrims assembled at Williamsburg in 
the very room of the Raleigh Tavern, where exactly thirty- 
one years before the " Declaration of Independence " had 
been drafted by the committee of the Virginia convention. 
Samuel Tyler, chancellor of the Williamsburg District, acted 
as president, and James Semple as vice-president ; and among 
the toasts drank at tlie dinner was " The virtuous and en- 
lightened, the patriotic convention of the State of Virginia, 
that body which with one voice dared to declare themselves 
independent, and to propose a similar declaration to their 
sister States." And after dinner .a procession commenced, 
at the head of which were borne in triumph Colonels Cary, 
Newton and Travis, surviving members of the A'^irginia 
convention.^ 

In 1816, the Pozuhafaji, the first steamer to navigate the 
waters of the James, arrived from New York, and began to 
make regular trips between Norfolk and Richmond. The 
trip one way took about twent}'-two hours and cost the pas- 
senger $10.- 

In 1822, another celebration was held at Jamestown Island, 
the orators being, as on the former occasion, students of Wil- 
liam and Mary, William Barton Rogers, Robert Saunders 
and ,^Ir. AlcCrcary, the first two of whom v/ere afterwards 
distinguished professors at their Alum Mater; and William 
Barton Rogers became founder and first president of the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Robert Saunders 
became president of AA^illiam and Mary College." ' 

1 Proceedings of the Late Jubilee at Jamestozvn in 1807. 

2 James, Lozver Norfolk County Antiquary, IV., 49. 

3 Richmond Enquirer, May 14, 1822. 



The English at Jamestown. 



93 



In 1837, ^Ir. Richard Randolph, of WiUiamsbur,<:j, called the 
antiquary, published a description of the Island in the South- 
ern Literary Messenger of which the following is a synopsis.^^ 

There was then only one residence on the Island — the 
Ambler house (with its outhouses and negro quarters), where 
the brick ruins are now seen. At the west end some portions 
of the brick fort were visible, but most of it had been washed 
away by the encroaching tides. To the right of the fort, a 
few hundred Awards distant, was a small brick building called 
a powder magazine. Xear 
this house were the remains 
(consisting of bricks, plas- _,-"' 

ter, &c. ) of a large building, 
which ]\Ir. Randolph cor- 
rectly conjectured had been 
the state house. All that 
existed of the church above 
ground was the tower, but 
in the graveyard there was 
quite a number of old tomb- 
stones, among which now 
missing were the monu- 
ments to John Ambler ( first 
of the name) and William 
Lee. The Island was inter- 
sected by a great number of 
ditches, indicative of lots 
which once existed, on some 
of which were to be found the foundations of brick buildings : 
and on one there was an old well, " the brick walls of which 
Avere quite perfect and sound." Skeletons might be found in 
many places near the site of the town, showing that the church- 
yard was not the only graveyard. The Island was in a high 
state of cultivation and was esteemed a most valuable estate. 
■' The soil," concludes I\Ir. Randolph, " is well adapted to the 
growth of corn, wheat, oats, and paliua christi, and the Island 
and surrounding country abound in game of almost every 




\\'ILLIAM BARTUX ROGERS, 

C>rator at Jamesto\-\'n, 1S22. 



^Southern Literary Messenger, III., 303. 



94 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



description — • partridges, pheasants, wild turkeys, waterfowl 
and deer." 

In 1S31, the Amblers and Travises parted with their interest 
on the Island to David Bullock, of Richmond, who then became 
the first sole proprietor. Five years later it was assessed to. 
Colonel Goodrich Durfey, and in 1846 to John Coke, father 
of Hon. Richard Coke, late U. S. senator from Texas. Then 
in 1848, it was assessed to Martha Allen Orgain, daughter of 
Colonel William Allen, of Clermont on James River, from 









THE AMBLIIR BRICK HOUSE, BEFORE IT WAS BURNED. 

wdiom it came in 185 1 to AA^illiam Allen Orgain, her son, who 
by legislative enactnient took the name of William Allen and 
was the owner of the Island during the war between the States. 
May 13, 1857, the 250th anniversary was celebrated under 
the auspices of the Jamestow^n Society, organized in 1854 by 
Virginia residents in Washington.^ As the then owner of 



^ See account of the celebration in the Southern Literary Messenger, 
Vol. XX I Y. 



The English at Jamestown. 



95 



Jamestown had devoted the land surrounding the old church 
to agricultural purposes, the ceremonies were held at the east 
end, two miles back, near the burial ground of the Travis 
family. The crowd included the governor, Henry A. Wise, 
and upwards of 8,000 
people ; and the orator was 
Ex-President John Tyler, 
and poet was James Bar- 
ron Hope. The weather 
Avas intensely dry and 
\varm, and at night there 
was a great fall of rain. 

One sentence in Ex- 
President Tyler's speech 
has more than ordinary 
interest. Referring to his 
early recollections of the 
houses, he said that, when 
he was a student at Will- 
iam and Mary College in 
1802-1807, a line of ruined 
houses stood "in a con- 
nected street running east 

and west from the present dwelling house ( Jaquelin-Ambler 
House)- to the ruins of the church." " The connected 
street " vs^as undoubtedly the Back Street of old " New Towne," 
and the ruined houses indicated where the business part of the 
Island once existed. 

May 13, 1859, a pilgrimage was made to the Island by 
Edward Everett, the great orator of Massachusetts, in com- 
pany with the poet, John R. Thompson editor of Lhe SoiifJicni 
Literary Messenger and some fourteen other persons. The 
Virginia creeper wdiich had covered the tower of the church 
had died out, and the object of the visit was to plant ivy at the 
base of the old ruin. ]Mr. Everett made some very happy 
remarks, and referred to the tower " as marking the spot, 
where the first germs of this mighty republic, now almost 
coextensive with the continent, were planted in 1607." 

In 1861, the Island was occupied by about 500 Confederate 
soldiers consisting of companies from Petersburg, and James 




MAJOR WILLIAM ALLEN. 



96 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



City, Bedford and Hanover counties, and near the church was 
th.rown up an earth fort called " Jamestown battery." About the 
same time earthAvorks were constructed on the second ridge 
commanding the Back River, and at other points of the Island, 
notably near Passmore's Creek and at Black Point. ^ These 
works were raised by the late E. D. T. Meyers, as military en- 



r^^ 





JOHN TYLER, 

Orator at Jamestown, 1S57. 

gineer, acting under Lt. Catesby ap R. Jones, afterwards famed 
as captain of the iron clad I'iri^iiiia in her battle with the moni- 
tor Ericsson. The battery at Jamestown had five faces, and was 
intended to have sixteen guns, though it does not appear to 
have ever had this number. When General Johnston withdrew 
his armv to Richmond, the defences at Jamestown and 



^Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies (Series l), 
Vol. VI., 699; Vol. VII., 473, 566. 



The English at Jamestown. 



97 



Archer's Hope were abandoned by the Confederates, and 
they soon after fell into the hands of the Federals, who found 
in the works nine eight inch army columbiads, and four navy 
thirty-two pounders. 

In a letter dated December 28, 1900, Major E. D. T. Meyers 
wrote as follows : 

There was no bridge across the creek in 1861, nor any causeway 
across the marsh on the north side of the creek, nor do I recall any 
evidence of the former existence of either. I built the bridge and 
causeway for military purposes soon after I went there. 

I do not distinctly recall any houses, other than the mansion itself, 
then not in very good repair, but entirely habitable, and the ruins of the 
old church. There may have been, and probably were, some small 
frame buildings at the shore end of the wharf. The Lsland was in a 
very good state of cultivation, and I recollect General Lee bemoaning 
the sacrifice of a promising wheat lield to a square redoubt. The Island 
at that time belonged to William Allen. 

The battery, which was built just above the old tower, was not far 
from the brink of the river bank, which I understand (for I have not 
been there since the war) has been heavily encroached upon by the 
river. During the course of the war the Ambler house was burned to 
the ground. 

Travel by steamboat necessitated the establishment of 
wharves for the public convenience at intervals on James 
River, and the first wharf 
at Jamestown was placed 
just above the Confeder- 
ate fort, very near where 
stood in 161 1 " the bridge " 
of Sir Thomas Dale. This 
was done to save expense, 
as it only required a short 
wharf to reach the channel. 
After some years, however, 
the site was abandoned, be- 
cause the point of the 
Island above made it incon- 
venient and even dangerous 
to efifect a landing. The 
wharf was then built (about 
1850) down the Island be- 
low Orchard Run, but after 
the war of i86t-'65, this site was also abandoned, because of 
the expense of maintenance ; and the present location, being a 
7 




^f. 




JAMES BARRON HOPE, 

Poet at Jamestown, 1S57. 



98 The Cradle of the Republic. 

compromise between the two old positions, was selected. The 
respective sites of the old wharves may still be exactly deter- 
mined by the lines of piles standing out in the water in the 
vicinities mentioned. 

The rest of the history of the place is familiar to many. 
When the college oi William and Alary was reorganized in 
1888, the earliest celebration attempted by the faculty and 
students was held in the very shadow of the old tower. -^ Then 
followed the munificent act of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barney, 
who presented twenty-two and one-half acres of land including 
the churchyard, to the Association for the Preservation of 
Virginia Antiquities, consisting of representative ladies of 
Virginia. 

Among the most notable events since was the gathering upon 
the Island, May 13, 1901, of the bishops of the Episcopal 
church, representing the different States of the American 
Union. 

Under the auspices of the Association for the Preservation 
of Virginia Antiquities now having charge, the United States 
government has erected, in the last few years, a substantial sea 
wall at the western end of the Island ; and recent excavations 
have unearthed both in the churchyard and other places many 
relics of old buildings and tombstones. 

The Island is a beautiful spot, and is one of the best plan- 
tations on the James River. There is now a fine artesian well 
affording very pure and palatable water. Many of the swampy 
places have been drained, and its health under present con- 
ditions is excellent. 

Preparations are now making for a suitable celebration of the 
foundation of the colony at Jamestown, on the Tercentennary, 
May 13, 1907, of the arrival of the settlers. In the senate of 
Virginia, Hon. D. Gardiner Tyler was the first to offer a bill 
calling upon the president of the United States and congress 
to make a national commemoration of the event. It was duly 
passed, and the ringing proclamation of President Theodore 
Roosevelt sets forth the significance of the settlement and the 
purposes and intention of the government, and deserves a 
closing place in this historic compendium. 

1 In 1895. an address was delivered by the president of the college, 
and in other years addresses were made by J. Lesshe Hall, professor 
of history in the college. 



The English at jAMESXowisr. 99 



A PROCLAMATION 



PitESIDENT OF THE UNITED StATES OF AMERICA. 

Whereas the congress of the United States has passed an act ap- 
proved March 3, 1905, and entitled "An act to provide for celebrating 
the birth of the American nation, the first permanent settlement of 
English speaking people on the Western Hemisphere, by the holding 
of an international naval, marine and military celebration in the vicin- 
ity of Jamestown, on the waters of Hampton Roads, in the State of 
Virginia, to provide for the suitable and permanent commemoration 
of said event and to authorize an appropriation in aid therefor and 
for other purposes." 

And whereas section 3 of the said act reads as follows : 

" Section 3. The President of the United States is hereby author- 
ized to make proclamation of said celebration, setting forth the event 
to be commemorated, inviting foreign nations to participate by the 
sending of their naval vessels and such representation of their military 
organizations as may be proper;" 

Now, therefore, I. Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by said act, do hereby 
declare and proclaim that there shall be inaugurated in the year 1907, 
at and near the waters of Hampton Roads, in the State of Virginia, an 
international naval, marine and military celebration, beginning May 13 
and ending not later than November i, 1907, for the purpose of com- 
memorating in a fitting and appropriate manner the birth of the Ameri- 
can nation ; the first permanent settlement of English speaking 
people on the American continent made at Jamestown, Virginia, on 
the 13th day of May. 1607, and in order that the great events of the 
American history which have resulted therefrom ma\^ be accentuated 
to the present and future generations of American citizens. 

And in the name of the government and people of the United States, 
I do therefore invite all the nations of the earth to take part in the 
commemoration of the event which has had a far-reaching effect on 
the course of human history, by sending their naval vessels to the said 
celebration and by making such representations of their military organ- 
izations as may be proper. 

In testimony thereof, I have now set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done in the city of Washington this twenty-ninth day of March, one 
thousand nine hundred and five, and in the independence of the United 
States the one hundred and twenty-ninth. 

By the President : Alvey A. Adse, 

Acting Secretary of State. 

Theodore Roosevelt. 



lOO 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



CENSUS OF INHABITANTS. 



A' allies of the first settlers at Jaiiiestozvn, 1607. 
(From Smith, U'orks, [Arber's ed.] p. 389). 



Council. 

Master Edward Maria Wins'field 
Captaine Bartholomew Gosnoll 
Captaine John Smith 
Captaine John Ratcliffe 
Captaine John Martin 
Captaine George Kendall 

Gentlemen 



Master Robert Hunt, Preacher 

Master George Percie 

Anthony Gosnoll 

George Flower 

Captaine Gabriell Archer 

Robert Fenton 

Robert Ford 

William Bruster 

Edward Harrington 

Dru(e) Pickhouse 

Thomas Jacob 

John Brookes 

Ellis Kingston 

Thomas Sands 

Benjamin Beast 

Jehu Robinson 

Thomas Mouton 

Eustace Clovill 

Stephen Halthrop 

Kellam Throgmorton 

Edward Morish 

Nathaniell Powell 

Edward Browne 

Robert Behethland 

John Pennington 

Jeremy Alicock 

George Walker 

Thomas Studley 

Richard Crofts 

Nicholas Floulgraue 

Thomas Webbe 

John Waller 

John Short 

William Tankard 

William Smethes 



Francis Snarsbrough 
Richard Simons 
Edward Brookes 
Richard Dixon 
John Martin 
Roger Cooke 
Anthony Gosnold 
Thomas Wotton, Chirurg. 
John Stevenson 
Thomas Gore 
Henry Adling 
Francis Midwinter 
Richard P^-ith 

Carpenters 

William Laxon 
Edward Rising 
Thomas Emry 
Robert Small 

Labourers 

John Laydon 
William Cassen 
George Cassen 
Thomas Cassen 
William Rodes 
William White 
Old Edward 
Henry Tavin 
George Goulding 
John Dods 
William Johnson 
William Vnger 
Jam: Read, Blacksinith 
Jonas Profit, Sailer 
Thomas Cowper, Barber 
Wil Garret, Brieklayer 
Edward Brinto, Mason 
William Lone, Taylor 
Nic : Scott, Drum 
Wil : Wilkinson, Chirurg. 
Samuel Collier, boy 
Nat Pecock, boy 
James Brumfield, boy 
Richard Mutton, boy 



With divers others to the number of one hundred. (The total 
number left at the Island on June ?2, 1607, was 104.) 



The English at Jamestown, 



lOI 



A^amcs of those who came in the First Supply: 



(From Smith, JVorlcs, [Arber's ed.] p. 411), 



Mathew Scrivener appointed 
to be one of the Councell. 

Gentlemen. 

Michaell Phittiplace. 
William Phittiplace. 
Ralph Morton. 
Richard Wyffing. 
John Taverner. 
William Cantrell. 
Robert Barnes. 
Richard Featherstone. 
George Hill. 
George Pretty. 
Nathaniell Causy. 
Peter Pory. 
Robert Cutler. 
Michaell Sicklemore. 
William Bentley. 
Thomas Coe. 
Doctor Russell. 
Jeffrey Abbot. 
Edward Gurgana. 
Richard Worley. 
Timothy Leeds. 
Richard Killingbeck. 
William Spence. 
Richard Prodger. 
Richard Pots. 
Richard Mullinax. 
William Bayley. 
Francis Perkins. 
John Harper. 
George Forest, 
lohn Nichols. 
William Griuell. 

Laborottres. 

Raymond Goodison. 
William Simons. 
John Spearman. 
Richard Bristow. 
William Perce. 



lames Watkins. 
lohn Bouth. 
Christopher Rods. 
Richard Burket. 
lames Burre. 
Nicholas Ven. 
Francis Perkins. 
Richard Gradon. 
Rawland Nelstrop. 
Richard Savage. 
Thomas Savage. 
Richard Milmer. 
William May. 
Vere. 
Michaell. 
Bishop Wiles. 

Taylers. 

Thomas Hope. 
William Ward, 
lohn Powell. 
William Yonge. 
William Beckwith. 
La(w)rence Towtales. 

Apothecaries. 
Thomas Field, 
lohn Harford. 

Dani : Stallings, Jeweller. 
Will. Dawson, a refiner. 
Abram Ransack, a refiner. 
Wil. Johnson, a Goldsmith. 
Peter Keffer, a gunsmith. 
Rob : Alberton, a perfumer. 
Richard Belfield, a Goldsmith. 
Post Ginnat, a Chirurg(ion). 
lohn Lewes, a Cooper. 
Robert Cotton, a Tobacco-pipe- 
maker. 
Richard Dole, a Blacksmith. 

And divers others to the number of 
120. 



N'aines of those who came in the Second Supply: 

(From Smith, JJ'orks, [Arber's ed.] p. 445). 

Captaine Peter Winne } were appointed to be 

Captaine Richard Waldo j Councell. 

Master Francis West, brother to the Lord Le VVarre. 

Gent. Gabriel Beadle. 

Thomas Graues. John Beadle. 

Raleigh Croshaw, lohn Russell. 



r /6 



of the 



I02 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



William Russell, 
lohn Cuderington. 
William Sambage. 
Henry Leigh. 
Henry Philpot. 
Harmon Harrison. 
Daniel Tucker. 
Henry Ceilings. 
Hugh Wolleston. 
lohn Hoult. 
Thomas Norton. 
George Yarington. 
George Burton. 
Thomas Abbay. 
William Dowman. 
Thomas Maxes. 
Michael Lowick. 
Master Hunt. 
■ Thomas Forrest, 
lohn Dauxe. 

Tradesmen (i. e., Artizans). 

Thomas Phelps, 
lohn Prat, 
lohn Clarke. 
Jeffrey Shortriclge. 
Dionis Oconor. 



Hugh Winne. 
Dauid ap Hugh. 
Thomas Bradley, 
lohn Burras. 
Thomas Lavander. 
Henry Bell. 
Master Powell. 
David Ellis. 
Thomas Gibson. 



Labourers. 



Thomas Dawse.-- " 

Thomas Mallard. 

William Tayler. 

Thomas Fox. 

Nicholas Hancock. 

Walker. 

W^illiams. 

Floud. 

Morley. 

Rose. 

Scot. 

Hardwyn. 



Boyes. 



]\Iilman. 
Hilliard. 



Mistresse Forrest, and Anne Burras her maide ; eight Dutch men and 
Poles, with some others, to the number of seaventie persons, &c. 

N'aijics of inhabitants of Jauicstoivn in 1624: 



(From Hotten, Lists of Emigrants to America, 173-178.) 



Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor, 

Margaret. Lady Wyatt 

Hawt Wyatt, Minister 

Kathren Spencer 

Thomas Hooker 

John Gather 

John Matheman 

Edward Cooke 

George Nelson. 

George Hall 

Jane Burtt 

Elizabeth Pomell 

Mary Woodward 

Sir George Yeardlev. Knight 
Temperance, Lady Yeardly 
Argall Yardley 
Frances Yeardlev 
Elizabeth Yeardley 
Kilibett Hichcocke 
Austen Combes 
John Foster 
Richard Arrundell 



Susan Hall 
Ann Grimes 
Elizabeth Lyon 
Younge 



Negroe { ^y 
Negroe \ 



Alice Davison — vid 

Edward Sharpies 

Jone Davies 

George Sands, Treasurer 

Captain William Perce 

Jone Perce 

Robert Hedges 

Hugh Wms. (Williams) 

Thomas Moulston 

Henry Farmor 

John Lightfoote 

Thomas Smith 

Roger Ruese 

Alexander Gill 

John Cartwright, 

Robert Austine 

Edward Bricke 



The English at Jamestown. 



103 



William Ravenett 
Jocomb Andrews 
vx Andrews 
Richard Alder 
Ester Evere 
Angello A Negar 

Doct. John Pott 
Elizabeth Pott 
Richard Townsend 
Thomas Leister 
John Kullaway 
Randall Howlett 
Jane Dickenson 
Fortune Taylor 

Capt. Roger Smith 
Mrs. Smith 
Elizabeth Salter 
Sarah Macocke 
Elizabeth Rolfe 
Chri Lawson 
vxor eius Lawson 
Francis Fouler 
Charles Waller 
Henry Booth 



Capt. Ralph Hamor 
Mrs. Hamor- 
Jereme Clement 
Elizabeth Clement 
Sarah Langley 
Sisley Greene 
Ann Addams 
Elkinton Ratcliffe 
Frances Gibson 
James Yemanson 



John Pontes 
Christopher Best 
Thomas Clarke 
Mr. Reignolds 
Mr. Hickmore 
vx Hickmore 
Sarah Riddall 



Edward Blaney 
Edward Hudson 
vx Hudson 
William Hartley 
John Shelley 
Robert Bew 
William Ward 
Thomas Mentis 
Robert Whitmore 
Robert Chauntree 
Robert Sheppard 
William Sawier 
Lanslott Damport 



Math. Loyd 
Thomas Ottway 
Thomas Crouch 
Elizabeth Starkey 
Elinor 



Mrs. Perry 

Lifans Perry 

Frances Chapman 

George Graues (Graves) 

vx Graues 

Rebecca Snowe 

Sarah Snowe 

John Isgraw (Isgrave) 

Mary Ascombe vid 

Banamy Bncke 

Gercyon Bucke 

Peleg Bucke 

Mara Bucke 

Abram Porter 

Bridget Clarke 

Abigail Ascombe 

John Jackson 

vx Jackson 

Ephraim Jackson 



Mr. John Burrows 
Mrs. Burrows 
Anthony Burrows 
John Cooke 
Nicholas Gouldsmith 
Elias Gaill 
Andrew Howell 
An Ashley 



John Southern 
Thomas Pasmore 
Andrew Ralye 



Nath. Jefferys 
vx. Jefferys 
Thomas Hebbs 



Clement Dilke 
Mrs. Dilke 
John Hinton 



Richard Stephens 
Wassell Rayner 
vx. Rayner 
John Jackson 
Edward Price 
Osten Smith 
Thomas Spilman 
Bryan Cawt 

George Menify 
Moyes Ston 



104 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



Capt. Holmes 
Mr. Calcker 
Mrs. Calcker 
infans Calcker 
Peccable Sherwood 
Anthon}^ West 
Henry Barker 
Henry Scott 
Margery Dawse 

Mr. Cann 
Capt. Hartt 
Edward Spalding 
vx. Spalding 
Puer Spalding 
Puella Spalding 
John Helin 
vx. Helin 



John Osbourn 
vx. Osbovrn (Osbourn) 
George Pope 
Robert Constable 

William Jones 
vx. Jones 
John Johnson 
vx. Johnson 
infans 
Johnson 
Johnson 
John Hall 
vx. Hall 

William Cooksey 
vx. Cooksey 
infans Cooksey 
Alice Kean 



Robert Fitts 
vx. Fitts 
John Reddish 



puer Helin 
infans Helin 
Thomas Graye et vx. 
Jone Graye 
William Graye 
Richard Younge 
vx. Younge 
Jone Younge 
Randall Smalwood 
John Greene 
William Mudge 

Mrs. Southey 
Ann Southey 
Elin Painter 

Goodman Webb 

In James Island. 

John Grevett. 
vx. Grevett 
John West 
Rhomas West 
Henry Glover 

Goodman Stoiks 
vx. Stoiks 
infans Stoiks 
Mr. Adams 
Mr. Leet 
William Spence 
vx. Spence 
infans Spence 
James Tooke 
James Roberts 
Anthony Harlow 

Sarah Spence 
George Shurke 
John Booth 
Robert Bennett. 



The English at Jamestown. 105 



Members of the House of Burgesses, 1619-1776. 

iPartial List.) 

July 30, 1619. — Capt. William Powell, Ensign William Spence. 

March 5, 1624. — Richard Kingsmill, Edward Blaney. 

October 16, 1629. — Richard Kingsmill, George Menifie. 

March 24, 1630. — John Southerne, Robert Harrington. 

February 21, 1632. — John Southerne, Lieutenant Thomas Crumpe. 

September 4, 1632. — John Jackson. 

February i, 1633.1 — .John Corker, Gent. 

June 5, 1666. — Major Theophilus Hone. 

June 7, 1676. — Richard Lawrence. 

Nov. 10, 1683. — Thomas Clayton. 

April 16, 1684. — Henry Hartwell. 

April 25, 1688. — William Sherwood. 

March 2, 1693. — Capt. Miles Gary. 

September 24, 1696. — William Sherwood. 

1697. — Philip Ludwell. 
December 5, 1702. — Robert Beverley. 
November 16, 1714. — Edward Jaquelin 
April 23, 1718. — Archibald Blair. 
May 9, 1722. — William Brodnax. 
May 12, 1726. — William Brodnax. 
August 13, 1736. — Lewis Burwell. 
May 22, 1740. — Lewis Burwell. 
May 6, 1742. — Philip Ludwell. 
Sept. 4, 1744. — Philip Ludwell. 
July II, 1746. — Philip Ludwell. 
March 30, 1747. — Philip Ludwell. 
Nov. 3, 1748. — Philip Ludwell. 
April 10, 1749. — Philip Ludwell. 
Feb. 5, 1752. — Edward Champion Travis. 
Nov. I, 1753. — Edward Travis. 
Feb. 14, 17.54. — Edward Champion Travis. 
Aug. 22, 1754. — Edward Champion Travis. 
Oct. 17, 17.S4. — Edward Champion Travis. 
May I, 1755. — Edward Champion Travis. 
Oct. 27, 1755. — Edward Champion Travis. 
March 25, 1756. — Edward Champion Travis. 
April 3, 1757. — Edw^ard Champion Travis. 
Feb. 22, 1759. — Edward Champion Travis. 
Nov. I, I7?Q.— ^John Ambler. 
1760. — John Ambler. 
Nov. 3, 1761. — Edward C Travis. 
Jan. 14, 1762. — Edward C. Travis. 
March 30, 1762. — Edward C. Travis. 
Nov. 2. 1762. — Edward C. Travis. 
May 19. 1763. — Edward C. Travis. 
Jan. 12^ 1764. — Edward C. Travis. 
Oct. 30, 1764. — Edward C. Travis. 



1 In 16^4 the plantations were formed into counties and Jamestown 
appears after that to have had no representative apart from James Uty 
County until i66t. But in March. 1661, the general assembly gave 
Jamestown the right to elect one of itself. And this privilege was ex^ 
«rcised down to the adoption of the State constitution, m i77o. 



io6 The Cradle of the Republic. 



May I, 1765. — Edward C. Travis. 
Oct., 1765. — John Ambler. 
Nov. 5, 1766. — Edward Ambler. 
March, 1767. — Edward Ambler. 
March 31, 1768. — Edward Ambler. 
May 8, 1769. — Champion Travis. 
Nov. 7, 1769. — Champion Travis. 
May 21, 1770. — Champion Travis. 
July II, 1771. — Champion Travis. 
Feb. 10, 1772. — Champion Travis. 
March 4, 1773. — Champion Travis. 
May 5, 1774. — Champion Travis. 
June I, 1775. — Champion Travis. 

Members of Conventions. 

March 20, 1775, February 17, 1775, December i, 1775, IMay 6, 1776. — 
Champion Travis. 

HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 

From the landing of the first colony sent by the London Company to 
tiie abandonment of Janiestozvn in 1699. 

First Charter, April 10, 1606. 

May 14, 1607. — Landing of the colonists at Jamestown. 
June 22, 1607. — Capt. Christopher Newport leaves for England. 
Sept. 10,1607. — Wingfield deposed, and Capt. John Ratcliffe president. 
Jan. 2,1608. — Capt. Newport arrives with the "First Supply'' of 

men and provisions. 
April 10, 1608. — Newport leaves for England. 
April 20, 1608. — Arrival of Capt. Francis Nelson from the West Indies 

(a belated part of the First Supply). 
Sept. 10, 1608. — Ratcliffe's year expires and John Smith becomes 

president. 
Oct., 1608. — Arrival of the Second Supply. 

Dec, 1608. — First marriage in Virginia — John Laydon and Ann 

Burras. 
Dec, 1608. — Return of Newport to England. 

Aug., 1609. — Arrival of the Third Supply. 

Sept. 10,1609. — Capt. Smith's presidency expires and Capt. George 

Percy made president. 
, 1609. — Virginia Laydon, the first English child born in 

Virginia. 
Oct. 5, 1609. — Capt. Smith returns to England. 

Second Charter, May 22, 1609; Third Charter, March 12, 1612. 

May 23, 1610. — Arrival of Sir Thomas Gates, first governor, with that 
portion of the Third Supply which was wrecked in 
the Bermudas. 

June 7, 1610. — The colonists abandon Jamestown. 

June 10,1610. — Lord Delaware arrives at Jamestown. 

March 28, 1611. — Lord Delaware sails for England, leaving Capt. 
George Percy deputy-governor. 

May 21, 1611. — Sir Thomas Dale arrives. 

Aug. I, 161 1. — Sir Thomas Gates arrives. 

Sept., 161 1. — Henrico founded. 



The English at Jamestown. 107 

, 1612. — John Rolfe introduces the culture of tobacco. 

Christmas, 1613. — Bermuda Hundred founded. 

March, 1614. — Sir Thomas Gates returns to England, and Sir 

Thomas Dale acts as deputy-governor. 
About Aprils, 1614. — Pocahontas marries John Rolfe. 
May, 1616. — Sir Thomas Dale returns to England, and Capt. 

George Yeardley made deputy-governor. 
March 21, 1617. — Pocahontas buried in the Parish Church at Gravesend, 

England. 
May, 1617. — Capt. Samuel Argall arrives as depuly-governor. 

April, 1618. — Powhatan dies. 
April 10,1619. — Capt. Argall leaves Jamestown and Capt. Nathaniel 

Powell becomes deputy-governor. 
April 19, 1619. — Sir George Yeardley arrives as governor and cap- 
tain-general of Virginia. 
July 30, 1619. — Eirst legislative assembly. 

Aug., 1619. — First negroes landed; African slavery introduced. 

Nov. 18, 1621.. — Sir Francis Wyatt becomes governor. 
March 22, 1622. — Indian massacre; 347 whites slain out of a population 

of 1,258. 

Royal Government. 

May 24. 1624. — Chief- Justice Ley declares the charter null and void. 

May 17, 1626. — Sir Francis Wyatt sails for England, and Sir Geoi'ge 
Yeardley becomes governor, the second time. 

Nov. 13, 1627. — Sir George Yeardley buried at Jamestown, and the 
next day Capt. Francis West becomes deputy- 
governor by the councils election. 

March 5, 1629.— Capt. West goes to England, and Dr. John Pott elected 
deputy-governor by the council. 

March 24, 1630. — Sir John Harvey arrives as governor and captain- 
general of Virginia. 

April 28, 1635. — Harvey deposed, and Capt. John West elected by the 
council deputy-governor. 

Jan. 18, 1637. — Sir John Harvey reads his commission at Elizabeth 
City to be governor a second time. 

Nov., 1639. — Sir Francis Wyatt arrives governor. 

Feb., 1642. — Sir William Berkeley becomes governor. 

April 17, 1644. — Second Indian massacre; 300 English killed in a popu- 
lation of 8,000. 

June, 1644. — Richard Kempe elected by the council deputy-gov- 

ernor in tlie absence of Governor Berkeley. 

June, 1645. — Sir William Berkeley returns to Virginia. 

1646. — Opechancanough dies at Jamestown. 

March 12, 1652. — Surrender of the colony to the Parliament. 

April 30, 1652. — Richard Bennett elected governor by the assembly. 

March 31, 1655. — Edward Digges elected governor. 

March 13, 1658. — Samuel Mathews elected governor. 

Jan., 1660. — Death of Mathews. 

March 13, 1660. — Sir William Berkeley re-elected governor by the as- 
sembly. 

May 8, 1660. — Charles II. proclaimed in London. 

Sept. 20,1660. — Charles II. proclaimed in Virginia. 

April 30, 1661. — Col. Francis Moryson deputy-governor in the absence 
of Sir William Berkelev in Europe. 

Sept.-Nov.,T662. — Berkeley returns to Tamestown from Europe. 

Sept. 19,1676. — Jamestown burned by Bacon. 

Oct. 26, 1676. — Nathaniel Bacon, Jr , dies. 



I( 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



May 5, 1677. — Berkeley leaves the country, and Col. Herbert Jeffryes 

becomes lieutenant-governor. 
Dec. 17, 1678.— Col. Jeffryes dies, and Sir Henry Chiclieley succeeds 

as deputy-governor. 
May 2, 1680. — Lord Culpeper arrives governor of Virginia. 
Aug., 1680. — Lord Culpeper visits England, and Sir Henry Chich- 

eley acts as deputy-governor. 
Dec. 17,1682. — Lord Culpeper arrives the second time in Virginia. 
May 28, 1683. — Lord Culpeper goes back to England, and Nicholas 

Spencer, Esq., president of the council, acts as 

deputy-governor. 
April 15, 1684. — Francis, Lord Howard of Effingham, governor. 
Oct., 1688. — Nathaniel Bacon, president of the council, deputy gov- 

ernor. 
May 16, 1690. — Francis Nicholson lieutenant-governor. 
Sept. II, 1692. — Sir Edmond Andros lieutenant-governor. 
Oct. 9, i6g8. — Col. Francis Nicholson lieutenant-governor till August 

15. 1705- 
Oct. 31, 169S. — State house at Jamestow-n destroyed by fire. 
April, 1699. — Act of the general assembly for building the capitol 

at Williamsburg. 





SE.VL OF VIRGINIA DURING THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 



VI 



THE FORT. 



There were at different periods in the history of Jamestown 
three forts erected by the settlers. The first fort was a triangu- 
lar stockade made of poles of oak and poplar about fourteen 
feet high, and set four feet in the ground, each of the poles 
forming a load for three or four men.^ As stated elsewhere, 
the side facing the river was 120 yards in length, and the other 
two sides were 100 yards each, making the fort include a little 
more than an acre. In each corner was a platform on which a 
piece or two of cannon were mounted, and there was an en- 
trance or port through each side commanded by a piece of 
ordnance stationed within.- George Percy and Gabriel Archer 
described^ the difficulties incurred from the savages, while the 
fort was building, in the following language : 

j\Iay 14, 1607, " We landed all our men; which were set to 
work about the fortification, and others some to watch and 
ward as it was convenient.'' About midnight some savages 
came close to the fort, but ran away when the alarm was 
given. 

The Island lay in the territory of Wowinchopunck, wero- 
wance of the Paspaheghs, and a day or two later messengers 
" bravely dressed with crownes of coloured hair upon their 
heads," came to announce the werowance's speedv arrival. 

May 18. This day Wowinchopunck arrived attended by 
100 savages armed with bows and arrows. As the savages 
thronged into the fort, one of them stole a hatchet from one 
of the soldiers, who struck him on the arm and took it from 
him. Thereupon, another savage came up with a wooden 
SAvord fiercely raised. The settlers then rushed to their arms, 
and Wowinchopunck and his company departed in great 
ansrer. 



1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 612. 

2 Strachey in Purchas. His Pilgrims, IV., 1752, 1753. 

3 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), lii-lv., Ixvi-Ixviii. 



[109] 



no The Cradle of the Republic. 

May 20, Wowinchopunck sent forty Indians with the pres- 
ent of a deer, who asked to sleep in the fort at night, but were 
refused. " One of our Gentlemen hauing a Target which hee 
trusted in, thinking it would beare out a slight shot, hee set 
it vp against a tree, willing one of the Sauages to shoot : 
who tooke from his backe an Arrow of an elle long, drew 
it strongly in his Bowe, shoots the Target a foote thorow, 
or better : which was strange, seeing that a Pistoll could not 
pierce it. Wee seeing the force of his Bowe, afterwards set 
him vp a Steele Target : he shot again, and burst his arrow 
all to pieces. He presently pulled out another Arrow, and 
bit it in his teeth, and seemed to bee in a great rage: so hee 
went away in great anger. Their Bowes are made of tough 
Hasell, their strings of Leather, their Arrowes of Canes or 
Hasell, headed with very sharpe stones, and are made arti- 
ficially like a broad Arrow : other some of their Arrowes are 
headed with the ends of Deeres homes, and are feathered very 
artificially." 

May 26. While the fort was yet- unfinished, the Indians 
of Paspahegh made a fierce assault. There came above 
200 Indians with their werowance. They came up almost 
into the fort, shot through the tents, and killed a boy and 
wounded eleven men, whereof one died after. " We killed 
dyvers of them.'' The council stood in front, and four out 
of the five present were wounded (Gosnold, Ratclifife, Martin 
and Kendall), and "our President, Mr. Wingfield (who 
shewed himselfe a valiant gentleman), had an arrow cleane 
through his bearde, yet escaped hurte." 

May 28. " We laboured pallozadoing our fort." Captain 
Newport, who had now returned from a trip up the river, 
caused his sailors to assist in the work. 

May 29. The savages made a second attack, and shot more 
than forty arrows into and about the fort, but did no harm 
beyond killing a dog. 

May 30. All was quiet. 

May 31. The Indians came lurking among the thickets 
and long grass, and shot six arrows into a gentleman named 
Eustace Clovell, who had left the fort unarmed. 

June I. Some twenty Indians appeared, but their arrows 
fell short of the fort. 



The Fort. hi 

June 2 and 3. All was quiet and the settlers worked upon 
their fort and cut clapboard for the ships to take back to 
England. 

June 4. Three savages crawled unperceived through the 
long grass under one of the bulwarks and shot arrows through 
the clothes of one of the emigrants, " but missed the skynne." 

June 8. Master Clovell, who was shot on May 31, died of 
his wounds. 

June 13. " Eight salvages lay close amonge the weedes and 
long grasse : and spying one or two of our Maryners Master 
Ihon Cotson and Master Mathew ffitch by themselves, shott 
Mathew fifytch in the (?) somewhat dangerously, and so 
rann away this Morning." 

June 14. Two friendly savages visited the fort and in- 
formed the emigrants that the war was not the act of all the 
tribes, but of the Paspaheghs, Tapahanas, Weyanokes, 
Apamatecohs and Chiskiacks. 

June 15. " We had built and finished our Fort, * * *." 

The cabins of the settlers were within the fort, in three 
lines parallel to the sides of the stockade, and separated from 
them by a street twenty-four to thirty feet wide, and in the 
middle of the open space were the church, the storehouse, and 
the guardhouse. As already noticed, the stockade, with all 
the cabins, was burned^ January 7. 1608 ; and when restored, 
being made up of sappy timber, it required frequent repairing 
from year to year. 

In the fall of 1608, three acres adjoining the fort were 
palisaded so as to form, with the original stockade, a pentagon, 
or " five-square." At this time " a plain " by the west bulwark 
was used for drilling the men, which was called " Smithfield " 
(after Sir Thomas Smith) ; where sometimes more than a 
hundred savages would stand in amazement to witness a file 
of soldiers shoot at a mark on a tree.^ 

In October, 1609, there were, according to Captain Smith. •'^ 
at his departure from Virginia, twenty-four cannon of differ- 
ent calibers in the fort, culverins, demi-culverins. sakers and 
falcons, " most well mounted upon convenient platforms." 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 407. 

2 Ibid., 434. 

3 Ibid. 



112 The Cradle of the Republic* 

In 1613, Don jMolina, a Spanish prisoner at Jamestown, 
reported^ that the fort at Jamestown had six guns ; and a 
little later Count Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, 
declared" to his king that there were five forts in Virginia — 
James, Henerique (Henrico), Charles, Point Comfort and 
Henry, " which were surrounded with earthworks on which 
they plant their artillery." 

In 1610, the captain of the fort Avas George Webb. In 
161 1, the captain was George Percy; in 1615, Francis West, 
in whose absence Lt. John Sharpe commanded; in 1617, 
William Powell ; and when he was killed by the Indians, in 
1622. Captain William Peirce succeeded him. 

The site of the stockade is supposed to be, in part, covered 
by the Confederate fort, but most of it lies under the water 
west of this fort. When the Confederate fort was constructed 
in 1861, pieces of armor, sword hilts, gold, silver and copper 
coin were discovered, a good evidence of an earlier occupation. 

The second fort was an earth fort, described by the Rev. 
John Clayton in 1688 as " a sort of tetragone with something 
like bastions at the four corners." It was probably erected 
after the Birkenhead conspiracy, in 1663, in obedience to the 
orders of the king, to be a curb " upon all such traitorous 
attemptes for the future." ^ In a granf* to Henry Hartwell 
in 1689 the western line of his tract is described as " passing 
along by the angular points of ye trench which faceth two of 
ye eastern bastions of an old ruined turf fort." In a deed 
dated November 6, 1710. the remains of this fort referred to 
as " the old fTort," is described as near the bank of the river, 
not far from the house of Edward Jaquelin. 

In 1667, Virginia was invaded by a Dutch fleet of four ships, 
and as the fort of Point Comfort was out of repair, they burned 
an English frigate-of-war and a number of merchant ships at 
the mouth of the river. After this we learn that the fort at 
James City had fourteen old guns, to which ten more, rescued 
from the burned frigate, were added.^"* 

1 Brown, Genesis of the United States. 651. 

2 Ibid., 660. . 

3 Hartwell, Blair and Chilton, Present State of Virginia. 
•^ J 'a. Land Register, VII., 701. 

5 Cal. of State Paps. Col., 1661-1668, p. 474. 



The Fort. 113 

The third fort grew out of the wars with the Dutch, 
Despite the king's orders, the colonists were averse to relying 
upon the fort at Point Comfort, and a law was passed in 1667 
by the assembly for five forts on the principal rivers — that for 
the protection of James River to be built at Jamestown Island, 
at the charge of the counties of James City, Surry, Charles 
City and Henrico, Each of the new forts was to be capable of 
holding eight great guns, and to have walls " ten foote high, 
and towards the river or shipping ten foote thick, at least." 
The forts w^ere built ; but, as the material was not substantial 
or lasting, an act passed in 1671 directed that they should be 
constructed of brick ; and, thereupon, William Drummond, 
Theophilus Hone and Matthew Page contracted to do the work 
at Jamestown. 

The contractors were in no hurry, and a fresh invasion of 
the Dutch in 1673 caused a complaint to be lodged wnth the 
governor and council that the fort was not yet erected, and 
" only some brick had been made." Thereupon, Drummond 
and Hone, Page being dead, were peremptorily ordered to 
complete the work.^ 

On April 6, 1674, Matthew Swann and his associates, 
engaged in a mutiny in Surry, were fined, and the fines given 
to the fort ; but on their due submission these fines were 
remitted. Air. Hubert Farrell, of James City County, and ]\Ir. 
Richard Lawrence, of Jamestown, did not fare so well. The 
former, on April 7, was fined, to the use of the fort, 10,000 
pounds of tobacco for scandalizing Mrs. Tabitha Bowler at 
the house of Mr. White : and the latter, on April 9, was fined, 
to the same use, 500 pounds of tobacco and cask, " for enter- 
taining the Hon'ble the Governor's servants." 

The fort was probably completed before June, 1676, when 
Bacon sent a squad of troops to hold it. It had the shape of 
a half moon, and lay at the head of Pitch and Tar Swamp, 
in a vale near the original landing place, where the river 
channel ran close to the shore. This fort was criticised by 
the minister, John Clayton, in the following language : 

Jamestown Island is rather a peninsula, being joyned to the con- 
tinent by a small neck of land, not past twenty or thirty yards over, and 
which at spring tides is overflowed and is then an absolute Island. 

'^General Court Records (1670-1676). 

8 



114 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Now they have built a silly sort of a fort, that is a brick wall in the 
shape of a half moon, at the beginning of the swamp, because the chan- 
nel of the river lies very nigh the shoar ; but it is the same as if a fort 
were built at Chelsea to secure London from being taken by shipping. 
Besides, ships passing up the river are secured from the guns of the fort, 
till they come directly over against the fort, by reason the fort stands 
in a vale, and all the guns directed down the river, that should play on 
the ships, as they are coming up the river, will lodge their shot within 
ten, twenty or forty yards in the rising bank,l which is much above the 
level of the fort; so that if a ship gave but a good broadside, just when 
she comes to bear upon the fort, she might put the fort into that con- 
fusion, as to have free passage enough. There was indeed an old fort of 
earth in the town, being a sort of a tetragone, with something like 
bastions at the four corners, as I remember ; but the channel lying 
further off to the middle of the river there, they let it be demolished, 
and built that new one spoken of, of brick, which seems little better than 
a blind wall, to shoot wild ducks or geese. 

In 1697, Sir Edmund Andros took a notion to strengthen 
tlie fort, and in the cotmcil book for December 9, 1698, there 
is an order for paying Edward Ross, gunner of the fort at 
"" James Citty," his salary of £10 sterHng. This Ross dwelt 
not far off in a house near the head of Pitch and Tar Swamp, 
on a lot of 5 roods and 7 perches, now under water beyond 
the " Lone Cypress." As the result of Andros's activity, the 
fort in 1 701 contained 20 guns, but the removal of the capital 
to Williamsburg, in 1699, was fatal; and in 1716, it is men- 
tioned^ as deserted and gone to ruin. 

In 1837, Mr. Richard Randolph wrote^ that some of the 
walls and mounds of the fort were then to be seen, and he 
added that the fort evidently extended some distance beyond 
■' its present termination," having been gradually washed 
av/ay by the encroaching tides. When Lossing visited the 
Island in 1848, some portion of the fort was still to be seen 
at low water, several yards from the shore.'* Nothing now is 
visible ; but the site of the fort may still be identified by masses 
of brick under water at the head of the Island. 

Pozi'dcr Magazine. 
When the brick fort at the head of the Island was repaired 
in 1697, there was erected on the third ridge, several hundred 
yards distant, a powder magazine, concerning which Dr. James 

1 A grant to Edward Chilton April 16, 1683, describes the shore of 
James River near the fort as a hill. Va. Land Register, VII., 292. 

2 Maury, Memoirs of a Huguenot Family, 270, 271. 

3 Southern Literary Messenger, III., 303. 

4 Lossing, Field Book of the American Revolution, 446, note 2. 



The Fort. 115 

Blair, in a memorial^ against Sir Edmund Andros, commented 
in the following language: "He (Andros) has thrown away 
a great deal of money in raising an old fort at Jamestown, & 
in building a powder house, and in making a platform for 16 
great guns there, and another platform at Tindall's Point 
ni York River. I never heard one man that pretended to 
understand anything of Fortifications that, upon sight of these 
works, did not ridicule & condemn them as good for nothing 
but to spend money. The Guns at Jamestown are so placed 
that they are no defence to the town, wdiich being much lozver 
in the rifcr, might be taken by the Enemies' shipping, without 
receiving any the least assistance from those Guns. The 
powder house stands all alone without any Garrison to defend 
it, and is a ready prey for any foreign or domestic Enemy." 

President Tyler, in his address- at Jamestown in 1857, men- 
tioned " a tradition " that this building had been used for a jail 
to confine Opechancanough — which only shows that tradi- 
tions are interesting, but not of much historic value. When 
Col. Goodrich Durfey owned the Island (1836-1846), the 
magazine was still in good condition, and was used as a resi- 
dence for W'hite carpenters. In 1837, it was referred to by 
Mr. Randolph as follows : "A few hundred yards to the right 
of the fort stands a small building, which tradition says was 
a powder magazine. Underneath this there is a cellar, arched 
and paved with brick, in which in all probability the ammuni- 
tion w'as deposited.'' He further said that on the north side 
of the house were numerous impressions in the walls, 
" evidently made by balls fired against the building by Bacon's 
party or the Indians''! 

The magazine stood on the third ridge, about 100 
yards inland, in 1837, but the waves advanced, and in 1891 
all that remained was the eastern foundation w^all, which was 
then located and found to be about thirty-two feet long. In 
1900, the powder magazine was visited by the editor in com- 
pany with ]\Ir. John Gilliam, whose father had resided in the 
magazine. At that visit only one corner of the wall was to 
be seen; and when the present sea wall was built, all the 
remaining bricks, being in the way, were removed. 

1 Perry, Papers Relating to Hist, of the Church in Va., 14. 

2 Tyler, Letters and Times of the Tylers, I., 1-34. 



VII 

THE CHURCH. 

The beginning is thus stated^ by John Smith : " When I 
went first to Virginia, I well remember wee did hang an awn- 
ing (which is an old saile) to three or foure trees, to shadow 
us from the Sunne, our walles were railes of wood, our seates 
unhewed trees, till we cut plankes ; our Pulpit a bar of wood 
nailed to two neighbouring trees ; in foule weather we shifted 
into an old rotten tent ; for we had few better, and this came 
by way of adventure for new. This was our Church till we 
built a homely thing like a barne, set upon cratchetts, covered 
with raftes, sedge and earth ; so was also the walls : The best 
of our houses (were) of the like curiosity, but, the most part, 
farre much worse workmanship, that neither could well defend 
wind nor rain ; yet wee had daily Common Prayer morning 
and evening, every Sunday two Sermons, and every three 
months the holy communion, till our minister died (the Rev. 
Mr. Hunt) : but our prayers daily, with an homily on Sun- 
daies, we continued two or three years after, till more Preach- 
ers came." 

The First CJutrch. The 'first church was within the fort, 
and was, as Smith states, fashioned like " a barn set upon 
cratchetts," and covered with " raftes, sedge and earth." It 
was consumed^ by fire January 7, 1608, five days after the 
arrival of the " First Supply," when Mr. Hunt lost his library, 
and nearly all the houses in the fort were burned. 

Tlie Second Cliiirch. The second church was also in the 
fort, and was not much superior to the first. It was built^ by 
Captain Newport and his sailors, and Smith and Scrivener 
made repairs'^ in the Spring of 1608, and again in the Spring 
of 1609. 

In this church was doubtless performed, by Rev. Robert 
Hunt, the first marriage in Virginia. When the " Second 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.). 95S. 

2 Brown, Genesis of the United States, 175. 

3 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), Ixxxvi. 

4 Ibid., 105, 154. 

[116] 



The Church. 



117 



Supply " arrived, in October, 1608, it brought the first gentle- 
woman, Airs. Forrest ; and her woman servant, Anne Burras, 
about two months later, married John Laydon, a carpenter.^ 




THE OLD CHURCH TOWER AT JAMESTOWN. 



In the same church was doubtless baptized a year later the 
fiist child of this marriage — Virginia Laydon (or Layton), 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 130. 



ii8 The Cradle of the Republic. 

v/ho was the first fruit of the first Enghsh Protestant marriage 
in the New World. ^ The parents and child survived the 
" Starving Time," and the Virginia Council of 1632 recognized 
officially the birth by a gift to John Laydon of 500 acres of 
land, situated in Elizabeth City County. In 1625, there were 
living at Elizabeth City John and Anne Laydon and their 
children, Mrginia, Alice, Katherine and Margaret Laydon : — 
all born in Mrginia." 

Some future genealogist may be able to trace the descend- 
ants of these children in Virginia, when perhaps the fortunate 
-representative of this first Virginia marriage may receive 
special recognition ! 

Sir Thomas Gates, who came ^la}' 23, 1610, during the 
horrors of the " Starving Time," found the church in a 
" ruinous " condition, and Lord Delaware, who by his timely 
arrival prevented the desertion of the colony, had the church 
overhauled and reconstructed. The church was made of tim- 
ber, and was sixty feet long by twenty-four feet wide, and it 
was fitted with a chancel of cedar and a communion table of 
black walnut. 

All the pews and pulpit were of cedar, with fair, broad 
windows, also of cedar, to shut and open as the weather should 
occasion. The font was hewn hollow like a canoe, and there 
were two bells in the steeple at the west end. " The church 
was so cast as to be very light within, and the Lord Governour 
caused it to be kept passing sweet, trimmed up with divers 
flowers." There was a sexton in charge of the church, and 
every morning at the ringing of a bell by him, about ten 
o'clock, each man addressed himself to prayers, and so at four 
o'clock before supper. There was a sermon every Thurs- 
day, and two sermons every Sunday, the two preachers (Rev. 
Mr. Buck and the preacher brought by Lord Delaware) taking 
their weekly turns. 

Every Sunday, wdien the Lord Governor went to church, 
he was accompanied by all the councillors, captains, other 
officers, and all the gentlemen, and with a guard -of fifty 
halberdiers in his lordship's livery, fair red cloaks on each 

1 Brown, First Republic. 113. 

2 Hotten, Eniigrants to America, 185, 245. 



The Church. 119 

side and behind him. The lord governor sat in the choir 
on a green velvet chair, with a velvet cushion before him, on 
which he knelt, and the councillors, captains, and officers sat 
on each side of him, each in their place, and when the lord 
governor returned home, he was waited on in the same man- 
nor to his house. ^ 

The most noted event supposed to be connected with this 
church was the marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolfe, about 
April 5, 1614, celebrated by Rev. Richard Buck. Her father, 
Powhatan'" approved the match, and her old uncle, Apaschisco, 
attended as the deputy for Powhatan, and gave her away ; 
two of her brothers were also present, and a general peace 
ensued which lasted as long as Pocahontas lived.^ 

The distinction of this couple warrants some further state- 
ment. John Rolfe, the bridegroom, came of an ancient family 
of Heacham, County Norfolk, England, and was the son of 
John Rolfe and Dorothea Mason. He was baptized in the 
church at Heacham. May 6, 1585, and in 1609 went to 
Bermuda, in the Third Supply, with Sir Thomas Gates. 
While there, a wife married in England bore him a daughter, 
who was christened Bermuda by Rev. Richard Buck, but 
soon died. The parents reached Virginia in May, 1610, where 
the mother died. In 1612, John Rolfe was the first English- 
man to introduce the cultivation of tobacco in Virginia. He 
succeeded Ralph Hamor as secretary of state in 1614, and 
went to England with his Indian bride in 1616, where he wrote 
an account of \'irginia for King James and Sir Robert Rich. 
After the death of Pocahontas he married, thirdly, Jane, 
daughter of Captain William Peirce, by whom he had several 
children. He was a member of the council of Virginia in 
1619, and met his death, it is believed, in the massacre of 
1622 at the hands of the Indians, whose spiritual welfare he 
had hoped to elevate by his marriage with Pocahontas. His 
widow, Jane, married, secondly. Captain Roger Smith ; and in 
1625 Elizabeth Rolfe, her daughter by John Rolfe, is men- 
tioned as living with them at Jamestown. 

The bride was the daughter of Powhatan, head-war-chief 
of all the Indians in Tide-water Virginia, and was born in 

1 Purchas, His PilgrUncs, IX., 1752. 

2 Hamor, Trtic Discourse, 11. 



120 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



1595. Pocahontas, the name by which she is usually known, 
was a pet name for " Little Wanton," for her true name was 
Matoaka. During the infancy of the colony at Jamestown she 
was often the means of providing the settlers with provisions, 
and, by her influence with her father, saved the lives of two 
men prominent in colonial annals — Captain John Smith and 
Captain Henry Spellman. In April, 1613, while on a visit 
to the Potomac Indians, she was captured by Captain Samuel 
Argall, and brought to Jamestown, where she was converted 
to Christianity and baptized under the name of Rebecca. 
About April 5, 1614, she married John Rolfe, and is supposed 
to have lived at Varina with her husband till she accompanied 
him to England in 1616. There she attracted much atten- 
tion, and her portrait was 
engraved by the celebrated 
artist, Simon de Passe, and 
Lord and Lady Delaware 
iritroduced her at court. 
While in England she met 
Captain John Smith ; and 
when Smith saluted her as 
princess, Pocahontas in- 
sisted on calling him 
father, and having him 
call her his child. When 
Argall sailed to Virginia, 
about the first part of 
April, 1617, he took Avith 
POCAHONTAS. huii Pocahoutas' husband, 

John Rolfe. Pocahontas was to have gone with him, but she 
sickened and died, and was buried at Gravesend, March 21, 
1617. She left one son, named Thomas, who was educated 
in England by his uncle, Henry Rolfe. and afterwards resided 
in ATrginia. He married a Miss Poythress, and had a son, 
Anthony, of England, and a daughter, Jane, who married 
Robert Boiling, of \^irginia ; and the most distinguished 
descendant in Virginia was John Randolph, of Roanoke. 

Pocahontas was the Urst of her race, within the limits of 
the original English colonies, to be converted to Christianity 
and baptized. Her union with John Rolfe was the Urst 




The Church. 121 

recorded lawful marriage between Indian and white man in 
the hmits of the present United States. 

The Third ChiircJi. When Captain Argah arrived in 1617 
as deputy-governor under Lord Delaware, the colonists were 
so absorbed in the culture of tobacco that Jamestown was much 
neglected. The church was " down," and a storehouse was 
used instead. Captain Argall enlarged the governor's house, 
and a new church of timbers was built " 50 foote in length by 
twenty foote in breadth," wholly at the charge of the inhabit- 
ants of Jamestown.^ 

On the arrival of Sir George Yeardley in 1619, he called 
a general assembly of the plantations to meet at Jamestown 
on Friday, July 30, of that year.- This was an epoch in the 
history of not only Virginia, but the United States. This first 
American popular legislative body sat in the choir of the 
church : " Where Sir George Yeardley, the Governor, being 
sett downe in his accustomed place, those of the Counsel of Es- 
tate sate next to him on both handes, except onely the Secre- 
tary (John Pory), then appointed Speaker, who sate right be- 
fore him ; John Twine, clerke of the General assembly, being 
placed next the Speaker; and Thomas Peirse, the Sergeant, 
standing at the barre, to be ready for any service the Assembly 
should comand him. 

" But forasmuche as men's affaires doe little prosper where 
God's service is neglected, all the Burgesses took their places 
ill the Quire till a prayer was said by ]\Ir. (Richard) Bucke. 
tlie minister, that it would please God to guard and sanctifie 
all our proceedings to his owne glory and the good of this 
Plantation. 

" Prayer being ended, to the intente that as we had begun at 
God Almighty, so we might proceed with awful and due re- 
specte towards the Lieutenant, our most gratious and dread 
Soveraigne (James L), all the Burgesses were intreatted to 
retyre themselves into the body of the Churche, w*^'^ being done, 
before they were fully admitted, they were called in order and 
by name, and so every man (none staggering at it) took the 
oathe of Supremacy, and then entred the Assembly." 

^A Brcifc Declaration, in Virginia State Senate Doc. (extra), 1874, 
p. 80. 

2 " The General Assembly convented at James Citty in Virginia July 
30, 1619," in Va. State Senate Doc. (extra), 1874, 9-32. 



122 The Cradle of the Republic. 

The general assembly consisted of the governor, six coun- 
cillors and twenty burgesses, two from each of ten plantations. 
It sat six days, and did a great deal of work in a very intelli- 
gent manner. 

There is reason to believe that the church building, thus 
made famous, was not in the same place as its predecessors, 
but lower down the river shore. The recent excavations made 
at Jamestown disclosed, in addition to the foundations of two 
brick churches, the side walls of a narrow^er building having 
an inside width of about twenty feet, and consisting of a foot- 
ing of cobble-stones one foot thick capped by a one-brick wall. 
The length of the superstructure could not be ascertained, as 
only the western ends of the foundations of the two walls 
remained, but the slenderness of the foundations indicate that 
they supported a building of timber. Now^ the width of a 
building matching the foundations would be the same as that 
given for the church built during Argall's term as deputy- 
governor, a good indication that they were the same. More- 
over, in making the before-mentioned excavations, the work- 
men disclosed three distinct sets of floor tiles lying at slightly 
different levels across the east end of the building formerly 
belonging to a chancel five and one-half feet by twenty-two 
feet. The lowest layer of tiles probably belonged to the third 
church at Jamestown, the next lowest to the fourth church, 
and the highest layer to the fifth and last church. In case its 
end walls were enclosed in the same manner as its side walls, 
which seems quite likely, the length of the third church would 
have been about fifty feet — the extent of the Argall church of 
1617-1619.^ 

The land grants afford additional evidence regarding the 
location of the third church. November 4, 1639, the Rev. 
Thomas Hampton received a grant^ for land described as " on 
a ridge behinde the church," running east and west eighty-two 
poles, and north and south thirty-six paces. June 12, 1644, he 
received a second grant^ of land on the same ridge, " contain- 
ing from the easternmost bounds westerly one hundred and 

' Yonge, The Site of Old Jamcstozvnc, 47. 

2 Virginia Land Register, I., 689. 

3 Ibid., II., 105. 



The Church. 123 

twelve paces (five foote to the pace), and running the same 
breadth northerly to the Back River." 

A grant^ of one acre to John White, x*\ugust 28, 1644, was 
" bounded west upon the Church Yard, East upon the land ap- 
pertaining to the State house. North toward the land of JMr. 
Thomas Hampton and South upon James River; the Length 
(of the lot) being 23 poles and the breadth seven poles, 
almost." Then there is another grant- — one to Radulph 
Spraggon, August 18, 1644 — for an acre of land at the west 
end of the Island situated south of the " way Leading towards 
the Mayne " and " east towards the land of Air. Hampton." 
Mr. Hampton's land must have been on the second ridge, and 
the natural position of a church to satisfy these references 
could have been no other than the site of the later churches. 

TJic Fourth Cliurch (First Brick Church). In January, 
1639, Sir John Harvey reported^ that the council and himself, 
as well as the ship-captains and ablest planters, " had largely 
contributed to the building of a brick church." Building did 
not proceed very fast in those days, and the inclosure of the 
foundations of the third church by the fourth suggests that, 
while the later church of brick was being constructed around 
the earlier one of timber, the latter was used for service. This 
brick church was still unfinished in November, 1647, at which 
time Southwark Parish in Surry (then part of James City 
County) was made into a separate parish, and it was provided* 
by the general assembly that the inhabitants of Southwark 
" pay and satisfie unto the minister of James Citty all customary 
tithes and dues, and all rates and taxes already assessed, and 
to be assessed, for and toiuard the finishing and repairing of 
the church at James Citty." 

Last to be completed was probably the tower situated at the 
western end of the church, which is interestingly described by 
Mr. Yonge in the " Site of Old Jamestown.'' As it stands to-day 
it is a dignified old pile of sombre detail and lasting workman- 
ship, approximately eighteen feet square in the plan, with walls 
three feet thick at the base, diminished by offsets in the inner 

1 Va. Land Register, II., 10. 

2 Ibid., II., II. 

3 J^a. Magazine, III., 30. 

* Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 347. 



124 The Cradle of the Republic. 

faces at each story to about seventeen inches thick at the 
belfry. " The brick work is in the so called English bond 
quaintly embellished after the fashion of the period with glazed 
headers." ^ The present height of the church tower is about 
thirty-six feet, but from the ground to the peak of the wooden 
steeple that surmounted it, the original height was about forty- 
six feet. The tower itself was divided into three stories; and 
the first story openings were arched doorways through the 
front and back walls. The second story had probably a win- 
dow in the west wall and a door in the east wall, the latter 
opening into a gallery across the western end of the nave of 
the church, as in the old brick church at Smithfield. But the 
masonry is absent from the wall space between each opening 
and the doors below, and thus each pair of openings is merged 
in one, about twenty and eighteen feet high respectively. The 
third story was lighted by six loopholes, two in front and 
two on each side wall." 

September 19, 1676, this church was fired by a torch in the 
liands of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr. 

Tlic Fifth Church (Second Brick Church). This churcli 
was, like its immediate predecessor, of brick ; and, as there is 
no trace of a new line of walls or tower foundations, there can 
be little doubt that it was a mere restoration of the fourth. 
The speed with which it was made ready for use goes to con- 
firm the supposition; for as early as June 25, 1679, the vestry 
of Bruton church made its doors the model for the doors of 
the brick church building at Middle Plantation. It was then 
ordered'" that " ye west door and chancell door (of Bruton 
church) be according to the dimensions of James Citty church 
doors, only to be one foot higher and 1/2 foot wider than 
they are." 

In 1690, there assembled in the restored church the first 
regular convention of the clergy of Virginia, presided over by 
James l^lair, commissary of the bishop of London, of whose 
diocese Virginia formed a part. This convention made itself 
memorable by digesting the scheme of a college, which they 
recommended to the governor and general assembly. This 

1 Yonge, Site of Old Jamestozvne, 53. 
• 2 Hall, Jamestozvn ■ — History and Present Condition, 24. 
3 CliurcJi Reviezv. 



The Church. 125 

was the last great connection of the Jamestown church with 
State affairs, and nine years later the seat of government was 
transferred to Middle Plantation, or Williamsburg. 

The church building was, however, in active use in James 
City Parish for many years after this, and was regularly fur- 
nished with preachers. After seventy-five years or more, the 
difficulties of access to the Island and the dwindling population 
of the neighborhood suggested a change. In the time of 
Governor Dinwiddle ( 1751-1758) a "new brick church,"^ 
called the upper church of James City Parish, was erected 
on the Main farm, about three miles from Jamestown, near the 
road from Williamsburg to Barret's Ferry. 

From this time preaching was discontinued at Jamestown, 
and the church, which doubtless demanded repair even before 
the desertion, fell rapidly into ruins ; and before the end of the 
century the tower alone remained above ground. 

The American Revolution produced a general awakening of 
interest in historic matters, and in 1803 W'illiam Wirt published 
his " British .Spy ;" and one of his best sketches has a senti- 
m.ental account of a visit to the tower of Jamestown. 

In 1804, John D. Burk printed the first volume of his " His- 
tory of Virginia," in which the sufferings of the early settlers 
at Jamestown were graphically portrayed. This was followed 
in 1805 by a pictorial representation of the tower, by Frederick 
Bossier, which was published at Richmond, in a magazine alike 
pretentious in form and title, edited by Louis H. Girardin, 
formerly professor of modern languages, history and 
geography in William and Mary College, and later a teacher 
in a female seminarv in Richmond. This magazine, entitled 
Grapliicce Amocnitatcs, with a half dozen other descriptive 
words, was a quarto, and its first number, which was also its 
last, contained, besides the Jamestown tower, five other colored 
plates by the same engraver. 

Since that time the old tower has welcomed numerous sight- 
seers, and witnessed many celebrations held in its shadow. 

October 2"/, 1856, Jamestown was visited by Bishop William 
IMeade, Rev. Dr. Silas Totten, of William and Alary, Mr. 
Richard Randolph (called the antiquarian), and Colonel 

1 ]'a. Magazine, V., 245. 



126 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Goodrich Durfey, a former proprietor of the place ; and they 
made the first serious effort to take measurements, and dis- 
covered the foundations of the brick church to be fifty-six by 
twenty-eight feet ; probably an outside measurement. 

In 1901, excavations were made by Mr. John Tyler, Jr., 
under the auspices of the Association for the Preservation of 
Virginia Antiquities, and the inside measurement of the foun- 
dation walls was found to be |ifty and six-tenths feet and 
twenty-two and seven-tenths feet respectively. Other valuable 
knowledge regarding the brick walls^ acquired through the 
excavations, has been given in another place, but it remains 
to say that several graves and tombstones, as well as mortuary 
tablets, were discovered in the old foundations. In the chancel, 
lying with its head to the north, was an iron tablet, probably 
formerly a cenotaph, once embossed with inlaid brasses, now 
missing. 

Over the foundations of the church has been lately erected, 
by the ladies of the A. P. Y. A., a wooden shed, to protect 
the sacred relics thus exposed. The Colonial Dames of 
America have undertakened to erect next year (1907) a 
beautiful church on this hallowed spot. 

Furniture and Service at Jantestozvn Church. 

Some of the sacred vessels of Jamestown are still preserved, 
viz.: A silver chalice and' paten, with an inscription on each; 
a silver plate, being part of a communion service ; a silver alms- 
basin or plate ; and lastly, a silver vase, or font for bap- 
tism. The first two pieces — the silver chalice and paten — 
are now in possession of Bruton church, in Williamsburg, and 
each bears the inscription, " Mi.ve not holy things zvith 
profane/' and about the rim at the bottom, " E.v dono Francisci 
Morrison, Arniigeri. Anno Donii 1661," (The gift of Francis 
]\Toryson, 1661.) Francis jMoryson was at the time acting 
governor of the colony. The maker of this service, whose 
mark was " T. W.," was also the maker of a celebrated cup 
owned by the Blacksmiths' Company, London, 1655, and sub- 
sequently purchased at a sale for £378. 

As to the third piece, the silver alms-basin, it is now at the 
Union Theological Seminary, in Alexandria. It has a Latin 



The Church. 



127 




JAMESTOWN CHURCH SERVICE. 

Presented in 1661 by Col. Francis Moryson. 



128 The Cradle of the Republic. 

inscription which shows that it was given in 1694 "' for the 
use of the Jamestown Church," by Sir Edmund Andros, 
knight, governor of the colony. 

Finally, the fourth article, which is now in the possession of 
the Monumental church in Richmond, the vase for baptism,, 
was presented to the Jamestown church in 1733 by Martha 
Jaquelin, widow of Edward Jaquelin, and their son Edward. 

It may not be out of place to add, in this connection, that 
the stone font of the " Church on the Main " is preserved, with 
the other relics, in the old powder magazine in Williamsburg. 
This font was probably in use at Jamestown before worship 
was abandoned there, and was removed to the church on the 
Main at the time of its erection, in 1751-1758.^ 

The Churchyard. 

A patent- to John lioward, in 1694, shows that the enclosure 
about, the churchyard was of "rails;"' and we are told by 
Bishop Meade^ that John Ambler and William Lee erected the 
present brick wall after the American Revolution from the 
brick of the church, then deserted and falling to ruins. The 
same patent discloses the fact that the railing furthest from the 
water ran " north 87 degrees westerly," or nearly east and 
v/est ; and thus it is prol^able that the two other sides were 
nearly north and south. The area of the present enclosure is 
about one-sixth of an acre, which is known to have been much 
less than the original extent. Bishop Meade, who received his 
information from nearly first sources, states that the original 
churchyard covered an area of about half an acre, in which 
he is doubtless right. The patent of John Howard appears to 
give the length of the railing on the north side as 3 —^ chains 
(two rods or 33 feet to a chain), which would make that side 
about 130 feet long. With this breadth a tract included be- 
tween the road and the river could not have exceeded half an 
acre. 

The yard must have been a burying place from the earliest 
davs. The finding of a human skeleton crossed by a wall of 

1 The font in Bruton church, sometimes said to be the font in which 
Pocahontas was baptized, was brought from England for the use of 
Bruton church in 1691. J 'a. Calendar of State Papers, I., 35. 

2 Va. Land Register. VITL, 320. 

* S Meade, Old Churches, etc.. I., 112. 



The Church. 129 

the church near its southeast corner shows that there was a 
burial ground at its site before the brick churches were built, 
and possibly even before the building of the timber church, 
1617-1619, which covered almost all the ground occupied by 
its successors. It is hardly presumable that the hundreds who 
died during the periods of the first and second wooden 
churches could have been buried in the limited enclosure of 
the stockade.^ At one time there must have been a great many 
tombstones in the churchyard, for comparatively recently monu- 
ments of massive make, like those of John Ambler and William 
Lee, have disappeared. 

Among the objects which attracted attention in 1807, during 
the jubilee of that year, was a young sycamore tree, whose trunk 
had become fastened between the tombstones of Dr. James 
Blair and his wife. Sarah Blair, and tended incessantly to pro- 
pel them from their centers.- This sycamore, now grown into 
a large tree, shattered both tombstones and carried some six 
feet from the ground a fragment of the monument of Mrs. 
Blair, imbedded partially in its trunk. The writer has often 
seen the fragment thus suspended above the ground, but when; 
in 1895, the tombstones were temporarily removed for the pur- 
pose of cleaning the yard, this piece of marble was unfortu- 
nately released from the embrace of the tree, which has since 
proceeded to close the cavity. Here, then, is authentic evidence 
of one tree, at least, upwards of a hundred years old in 
Virginia. 

At the east end of the Island, in a clump of trees, is the pri- 
vate burial ground of the Travis family, in which some tomb- 
stones may still be seen. 

Tombstones in the Yard of the Chureh. 

Fragment of Lady Frances Berkeley's tombstone. It will be 
remembered that generally she called herself Lady Berkeley, 
even after she was Mrs. Ludwell. 

yeth the Bod 
LADY FRANC 
KLEY 

1 Yonge, Site of Old Jamestown, 48. 

2 Proceedings of the Jubilee at Jamestown, 1807. ■ 

9 



130 . The Cradle of the Republic. 

Fragment of the tombstone of Philip Liidwell, second of 
the name ; the inscription partiahy supphed from the Richmond 
Dispatch for May 15^ 1857. 

Here lies interred the body of PHILIP LUDWELL who died 
the nth of January 1726 in the 54th year of his age, some- 
time auditor of his Majesty's revenue and twenty-five years 
member of the Council. 



Tombstone of Mary Knig'ht. 



Here lyeth the body of 

Mary the wife of John 

Knight who departed 

this Hfe Febr nth 1732-3 in 

the 59th Year of her age 

Waiting for a joyful resurrection. 



Tombstone of Ursula Beverley, now missing. Description 
from Richmond DisfatcJi for May 15, 1857. 

Plere lyeth inter'd the body of URSULA BEVERLEY, late 
wife of Robert Beverley, and daughter of y^ very Honorable 
Wm. Byrd, who departed this Life the ii"' day of October 
1698, being much lamented by all that knew her, aged 16 
years 11 months and 2 dayes. 



Tombstone of EHzabeth Edwards, now missing. Inscription 
partially supplied from Richmond Dispatch for May 15, 1857. 
Parts in brackets added by the author. 

f-fere lies interred the body of [Elizabeth Edwards,] wife of 
William Edwards of [James] Citty, Gent^ and daughter of 
^Benjamin Harrison] of y® [county of Surry, who was born 

the] sixth day of January — , [and died] the 14th. day of 

[aged] seventeen years and dayes. 

1 William Edwards and Elizabeth his wife are parties to a deed, 
among the Ambler MSS., for lands at Jamestown, dated 1709. 



The Church. 131 

Tombstone of John Ambler, Esq., now missing. Supplied 
from Richmond Critic, January 20, 1889. 

JOHN AMBLER, ESQUIRE. BARRISTER AT LAW 

Representative in the Assembly for 

Jamestown and Collector of the District 

of York River in this Province. 
He was born the 31st of December 1735, 
and died at Barbadoes 27th of May, 1766. 
In the relative and social duties — as a son, and a brother 
and a friend — few equalled him, and none excelled him. 
He was early distinguished by his love of letters, which he 
improved at Cambridge and the Temple, and well knew how 
to adorn a manly sense with all the elegance of language. 
To an extensive knowledge of men and things he joined 
the noblest sentiments of liberty, and in his own example 
held up to the world the most striking picture of the 
amiableness of religion. 



Tombstone of Hon. William Lee (now missing-), of " Green- 
spring who died June 2y, 179S Aged fifty-eight Years," 



Tombstone of James Blair, D. D. 

Very little of Commissary Blair's tombstone remains, but 

by comparing the fragments with the version given in Meade, 

Old Churches, etc., Dr. L. B. \Miarton made the restoration as 

follows : 

H. S. E. [Hie sepultus est] 

Vir Reverendus et Honorabilis 

JACOBUS BLAIR, A. M. 

In Scotia natus. 

In Academia Edinburgensi nutritus 

Primo Angliam deinde Virginiam 

venit : 

In qua parte terrarum 

Annos LVIII Evangelii Preconis, 

LIV Commissarii, 

Gulielmi et Mariae Praesidis, 

e Britanni[a] Principum 

Conciliarii, 

Concilii Presidis, 

Coloniae Prefecti, 

munera sustinuit ; 

ornavit 

eum oris venusti Decus ; 

[Accepit ornjate, hilari, sine Luxu, hospitali[modo;] 

munificent — 

issimo egenis [dediti largo 

omnibus ; comi [animo] 

superavit. 
Collegio bene diversam 



i'?2 The Cradle of the Republic. 



fundaverat, 

moriens Bibliothecam suam 

ad alendum Theologiae studiosum 

[et] juventutem pauperiorem instituendam 

Testamento legavit. 

[ante] Cal. Mali in die [XIV decessit], 

MDCCXLIII 

aetat: LXXXVIII. 

[eximjiam desideratissimi 

senis Laudem 

snis nepotibus commendabnnt 

[olpera marmore perenniora 

Translation. 

Here lies buried 

The Reverend and Honorable 

James Blair A.M. 

Born in Scotland, 

Educated in the University of Edinburgh, 

He came 

First to England, then to Virginia; 

In which part of the world 

He filled the offices 

For 58 years of Preacher of the Gospel, 

For 54 of Commissary, 

Of President of William and Mary, 

Of a Councillor 

to tlie British Governors, 

Of President of the Council, 

Of Governor of the Colony. 

The comeliness of a handsome face 

adorned him. 

He entertained elegantly, in a cheerful, hospitable manner, without luxury;. 

most munificently 

he bestowed charity upon all needy persons ; 

in affability 

he excelled. 

For the College a well varied Library 

he had founded. 

Dying his own Library 

by will he bequeathed 

for the purpose of informing students in Theology 

and instructing the poorer youth. 

He departed this life the XIV day before the Calends of May [April i8th]. 

MDCCXLHI. 

At the age of LXXXVIII. 

Works more lasting than marble 

will commend to his nephews 

The surpassing praise of a well beloved old man. 



Tombstone of Mrs. Sarah Blair. 
Mrs. Blair's epitaph was published in the Petersburg Constel- 
lation for September 17, 1835, which gave the account of a 
visit to Jamestown, copied from the Norfolk Beacon. Only a 
few fragments of the tombstone remains. 



The Church, [33 

Memoriae Sacrum. 

Here Ives in the hope of a Blessed Resurrection 

ye Body of Mrs. SARAH BLAIR, wife of 

Mr. James Blair, Commissary of Virginia, 

Sometime Minister of this Parish. 

She was daugliter of 

Col. Benjamin and Mrs Hannah Harrison of 

Surry. Born Aug. ye 14^11 1670. Married 

June ye 2'^ 1687. 

died May ye 5, 1713 exceeding beloved and 

lamented. 

TThan follows a long Latin inscription partly concealed by the tree which clasps it.] 



Tombstone of Rev. John Clough. 

Here Lyeth [the] 
Bodv of [the Rev.] 
JOHN CLOUGH [late Minister] 

of this Place Who [departed] 

This Life [February 15"', 168% ] 

And Waiteth [in hopes of] 

A joyful Res[urrection] 



Tombstone of William Slierwood. 

[H]ere Lyeth WILLL\M SHERWOO[D] 

That was Born in the parish 

of White Chappell near 

London. A Great sinner 

Waiting for a joyfull 

Resurrection 



Tomljstone of ]:Iannali Ludwell. 

Under this Stone lies interred 

The Bodv of 
Mrs. HANNAH LUDWELL 

Relict of 

The Hon. Philip Ludwell, Esq., 

By whom She has left 

One SON and Two DAUGHTERS. 

After a most Exemplary Life 

Spent in chearful Innocence 

And The continual Exercise of 

Piety Charity and Hospitality 

She Patiently Submitted to 

Death on the 4"' Day of April 1731 in the 52^' 

Year of Her Age. 



^ 



t34 1 I5E Cradle of the Republic. 

Tombstones in the Burial Ground of the Travis Family 
In the eastern portion of the Island. 

Tombstone of Edward Travis. 

Here lyeth the Body of EDWARD TRAVIS 

who departed this life the I2t'i day of 

November in the year of our Lord 1700. 



Tombstone of John Champion. 

[SkuU and cross honcs.l 

Here Iveth in the hope of A glorious Resurrection 

the body of JOHN CHAMPION who was borne 

the lo'h day of November in the yeare of our 

Lord 1660 and departed this life the i6ti» 

day of December in the year of our Lord 

1700 

And likewise JOHN CHAMPION the son of John 

Champion who was borne the ii"> day of Dec^ 

in the yeare of our Lord 169=; and departed 

this life the ii'^'> day of September in the yeare 

of our Lord 1700. 



Tombstone of Susanna Travis. 

SUSANNA TRAVIS wife of 

Edward Champion Travis and 

Daughter of John Hutchings 

of the Borough of Norfolk Merest 

And Amy his Wife who Departed 

this life October the 28"!: 1761 in the 

23rd Year of her Age much Lamented 

by all her Acquaintance 

And leaving Issue three Sons and 

one Daughter. 

Nigh this Place are also Interred 

The Following Children of the said 

Edward Travis and Susannah his wife 

ELIZABETH who was born August 

24*'! 1748 and Died September 22^ 1749 

AMY who was bom October 9*^ 1752 

and Died October 2"^ 1755 

JOHN who was born December 9*^^^ I755 

and Died November 25'^'> 1759. 



Ministers. 
Rev. Robert Hunt, first minister of Jamestown church, was 
probably the Rev. Robert Hunt, A. M., who was appointed to 



The Church. 135 

the vicarage of Reculver, Kent, January 18, 1594, and resigned 
in 1602.^ On the recommendation of Dr. Richard Bancroft, 
archbishop of Canterbury, the post at Jamestown was offered 
to Richard Hakkiyt, the friend of Gilbert and Raleigh, at a 
salary of 50oi, but Hakluyt sent Hunt in his place." All 
parties unite in praise of him, as he was not infrequently the 
means of reconciling the warring factions at Jamestown, and 
was tireless in waiting on the sick and administering religious 
consolation to the dying. He is thought to have performed 
the marriage ceremony for John Laydon, a carpenter, and 
Anne Burras, the maid of Mrs. Forrest — which was the first 
English marriage in America. He certainly died before 
October, 1609. 

Rev. Richard Buck came to Virginia with Sir Thomas Gates, 
and is said to have been a graduate of Oxford University. 
While in the Bermudas, he baptized John Rolfe's infant 
daughter, Bermuda, by his first wife, but the child soon died. 
He reached Jamestown with Gates, May 23, 16 10, and, on 
landing, held services in the church, and made " a zealous and 
sorrowful prayer " over the spectacle of death and starvation 
in the fort. On the arrival of Lord Delaware, he divided with 
the minister whom the latter brought over the duties of the 
church at Jamestown, " the two preachers taking their turns 
weekly." He united in marriage John Rolfe and Pocahontas, 
about April 5, 1614, and July 30, 1619, acted as the chaplain 
of the first general assembly that ever met in Virginia, being- 
mentioned as " a verie good preacher." His opening words 
were that it would please God " to guard and sanctifie all our 
proceedings to his owne glory and the good of this Planta- 
tion."^ < 

He pjirchased on December 18, 1620, from William Fairfax, 
" yeoman and ancient planter, who had remained eight years in 
the country, and Margery his wife, an old planter also that 
came into the country married to said Fairfax," twelve acres 
of land, a mile from Jamestown, in the eastern part of the 
Island, on which were " a dwelling house and another little 
house."'* 

1 Brown, Genesis of the United States, II., 929. 
. 2 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), II., 958. 

3 Brown, Genesis of the United States, II., 835. 
^ J 'a. Land Register, 1., 650. 



136 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



He patented also 750 acres and had a glebe of 100 acres. ^ 
The glebe land is still known as such, and is situated at 
Archer's Hope, across from the east end of the Island. 




'^ ^ ^ ^ 

- ^^^:v.-X /C^ ^^„^ ^ ^^ >„ ^ 







y- 



^' 









»'— »Af <f*V, 



'■V 



LETTER OF REV. RICHARD BUCK. 

He had four children- (probably five) (i) Marah, who 
appears to have been the second wife of Richard Adkins ; 

'^Yio\X&\\ Emlgyanis \o America, 2~0. 
2 Neill, Virginia I'ctusta, 164. 



The Church. 137 

(2) Gershon, who in 1636 left^ " 500 acres upon a creek be- 
tween the Glebe land, and adjoining the land of the orphants 
and heircs of Mr. Richard Buck," to his brother — (3) Peleg; 
(4) Benoni, "the first idiot born in Virginia;" (5) probably 
Elizabeth, who married Sergeant, Thomas Crump,- and appears 
to have been in 1655 the solitary representative of Mr. Buck 
in Virginia. His widow married secondly, John Burrows, and 
thirdly, John Brumfield. 

Poole and Giovcr. Sir Thomas Dale mentions that Mr. 
Poole preached on the afternoon of his arrival at Jamestown, 
which was Sunday, I\Iay 19, 161 1. and in the second expedition 
of Sir Thomas Gates, which arrived in August, came Glover, 
" an approved preacher in Bedford and Huntingdonshire, a 
graduate of Cambridge, reverenced and respected," one who 
was in easy circumstances and advanced in years. He lived 
but a short time after his arrival. 

Rev. Hazvte JVyatt came to Virginia with his brother. Gov- 
ernor Francis Wyatt, in October, 1621, and was minister of 
Jamestown till about 1626, when they returned to England on 
tlie death of their father, George Wyatt, Esq. He was of the 
illustrious Wyatts of Boxley, Kent county, England, and was 
grandson of Sir Thomas Wyatt, the younger, beheaded for 
stirring up rebellion against " Bloody " Queen Mary. Another 
of his ancestors. Sir Henry Wyatt, received from Henry \TI. 
the highest honors — was privy councillor, etc. His picture 
was taken with a cat at his side, because, when confined by 
Richard HI. in a cold and narrow tower, where he had neither 
food nor fire, a cat brought him regularly every day a pigeon 
for his dinner, and kept the warmth in his body by permitting 
him to fondle and caress her. 

Rev. Hawte Wyatt, after leaving Virginia, was inducted 
rector of Boxley, in Kent, October 3. 1632, and died there 
July 31, 1638. He was twice married, and two of his sons, 
Edward and George, settled at Middle Plantation, in Mrginia. 
The Wyatt monumental tablet in the church at Boxley states 
that " iiawte Wyatt left issue living in Virginia."'^ 

1 Va. Land Register, I., 532. 

2 Hening, Statutes at Large. I., 405. 

3 William and Mary Coll. Quart., III., .35-38- 



138 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Rev. Francis Bolton^ also came with Governor Wyatt in 
1 62 1, and was minister first at Elizabeth City, and in 1623 at 
the plantation on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. 
After Wyatt's departure to England he was minister at James- 
town, where he was witness in February, 1630, to the will of 
Thomas Warnett, a leading merchant. 

Rev. Thomas Hamptoii^ was the next minister, so far as the 
writer knows, being probably the Thomas Hampton entered 
among the Oxford matriculates, as son of William of Reigate 
Surry, sacerd. He matriculated at Xew College nth March, 
1625, aged sixteen, and received the degree of B. A, from 
Corpus Christi College, January 30, 1627; was probably brother 
of Rev. William Hampton, who, at the age of seventy-seven> 
died in 1677, while rector of Bletchingly, in Surry.^ Rev. 
Thomas Hampton came to Virginia before 1637, in which year 
he secured several grants for land in the Upper County of New 
Norfolk (afterwards Nansemond county). In 1640, he received 
from the general court an order for 100 acres in addition to 
the 100 acres of glebe belonging to the rectory of James City 
Parish. November 4, 1639. he received a grant, pursuant to 
an act for building James City, dated February 20, 1637, for 
land on a ridge between two swamps behind the church, 
running in length east and west eighty-two poles, and in 
breadth northerly and southerly thirty-six paces (five feet to 
every pace). Another patent, June 12, 1644, gave him eight 
acres on a ridge behind the church, extending from the eastern- 
most bounds of his former lot, westerly 112 paces, and running 
the same breadth northerly to Back River. 

About 1646, Mr. Hampton moved to York County, where he 
was rector of Hampton Parish. An order of York County 
does not present him in a very enviable light. 

Whereas it appears to the court that " Mr. Thomas Hampton clerk 
obteyncd the guardianship of the orphans of John Powell late of yis 
county dec and hath possesst himselfe with yere estates & hath also 
removed one of y«= s^^ orphants with most of y*^ s<i estate out of 3ns 
county and left behind y'^ other orphan by name Wm Powell without 
necessary pvon, to say even starke naked whereupon ye court upon y^ 
pet" of ye s^ Wm Powell doth order yat Thomas Harwood shall have 
into his keeping Wm Powell orphan," &c. York Court, Nov. 26, 1646. 

^ Neill, Virginia J'ctusta, 174. 

2 Neill, Virginia Caroloruin. 70. 

3 Foster, Oxford ISIatriculates. 



The Church. 139 

This order, however, must be taken with some grains of 
allowance, as the people of that day, even the justices, were 
good haters, and never spared any person they disliked. There 
was no such thing as moderation in expression. 

Air. Hampton's tombstone was formerly to be seen at King's 
Creek, York County, according to which he died January 5, 
1647 (really 1648, as the year then did not begin till March 25) . 

Rev. TJwmas Harrison is said by Calamy in his Noncon- 
formists' Memorial to have come to Virginia with Sir William 
Berkeley in 1642 and officiated as chaplain at Jamestown. 
Probably the only foundation for all this is that he sometimes 
preached at Jamestown on special occasions. The records of 
Lower Norfolk County show^ that, instead of coming with 
Berkeley, he qualified as minister of Elizabeth River Parish 
May 25, 1640, being then in his 25th year, at a salary of 100 
pds. sterling. When, on the invitation of the Puritans of 
Nansemond County, the ministers John Knowles, William 
Thompson and Thomas James, came from New England to 
Virginia, Harrison vised his influence to have them silenced and 
banished from the colony. Soon after occurred the Indian 
massacre of April 17, 1644, and the Puritans heralded this as a 
judgment of God upon the country for its rejection of the 
godly ministers. Harrison became a changed man, and turned 
Puritan himself. 

He declined to read the book of common prayer, or adminis- 
ter the sacrament of baptism according to the prescribed can- 
ons ; and the court of Lower Norfolk County ordei'efl him to 
be summoned before the governor. But Berkeley did not pro- 
ceed to extremities at once, and gave Harrison and his fol- 
lowers ample time for repentance. Three years passed, and at 
length Harrison and his elder William Durand were directed 
peremptorily to leave the colony. William Durand emigrated 
to Maryland with more than 1,000 settlers from Virginia, while 
Harrison visited Boston where he married Dorothy S}'monds, 
a cousin of Governor Winthrop. He then sailed to England, 
and in 1649 obtained an order from the council of State 
directed to Governor Berkeley to permit his return to Virginia. 
Harrison, however, did not return to America, but became 
chief chaplain to Henry Cromwell, lord lieutenant of Ire- 
1 Lotcrr Norfolk County Antiquary. Nn. i, part 3. 



140 The Cradle of the Republic. 

land, and in Christ Church Cathedral he preached a sermon on 
the death of his father, Oliver Cromwell. 

Rez'. Philip Mallory appears in the Virginia records as early 
as 1656, but was probal:)l\' in \"irginia much earlier. He was 
a son of Dr. Thomas Alallory, dean of Chester, matriculated 
at Corpus Christi College, May 28, 1634, aged seventeen; was 
B. A. from St. Mary's Hall, 1637; ^^- A-- 1640; and vicar of 
Norton, Durham, in 1641. His brother. Rev. Thomas Mallory, 
was ejected by the Parliamentary party from his living during 
the civil war, but was reinstated canon of Chester in 1662 by 
King Charles H. Rev. Pliilip ^Mallory married Catharine, 
daughter of Robert Battc. vice-master of Oxford University, 
and removed with his wife's relatives, the Battes, and settled 
in Virginia. 

He was a man of high character and exemplary piety, and 
stood at the head of the church in Mrginia. In 1656, he was 
authorized by the general assembly, in connection with Mr. 
Roger Green, to examine into the competency of all ministers 
in the/colony. He officiated at the two assemblies at James- 
town March. 1658 and 1659, and had charge of the religious 
services when Charles H. was. with great rejoicing, proclaimed 
at York, Virginia, October 20, 1660. In March, 1661, the 
legislature testified^ that " Mr. Philip Mallory, had been emi- 
nently faithful in the ministry, and very diligent in endeavoring 
the advancement of those means that might conduce to the 
advancement of religion in this country," and appointed him 
" to undertake the soliciting of our church affairs in England." 
He reached London, but died soon after and his will was 
proved July 27, 1661.^ In 1660, his nephew, Roger Mallory, 
obtained from York court a certificate for a grant of land 
'* for the use of ]Mr. Philip ^lallory." Roger Mallory settled 
in King and Queen County, and had a son William, who was 
ancestor of the distinguished family of his name, resident in 
Elizabeth City County, Virginia. 

The Battes, who have been numerously represented in 
\nrginia, were of Okewell, County York, England. (See Gen- 
ealogist for October, 1898, pages 86-88.) John Batte, brother 

1 Hening, Statutes at Large, II., 34. 
2/'fl. Magazine, XII., 4. 



The Church. 141 

of Airs. IMallory, married her husband's sister, Martha Alal- 
lory, and was a royahst. He was fined £364, and is said to 
have been a captain at the battle of Adwalton. The pedigree 
says that two of his sons, Thomas and Henry, came to A'ir- 
g'inia. (See Genealogist.) In April, 1668, "Thomas Batte and 
Henry Batte, sonnes of Mr. John Batte deed," obtained a patent 
for 5.878 acres, 2 roods and 8 rods on Appomattox River for 
118 " head-rights," or emigrants; and among the names repre- 
sented were John Batte, Sr., John Batte, Jr., William Batte, 
Thomas Batte, Henry Batte, Philip Mallory. Nathaniel Mal- 
lory, Sr.,^ Xathaniel Mallory, Jr., William Mallory, Thomas 
Mallory, Elizabeth Mallory, and Roger ]\Iallory. So it seems 
from this that John Batte, the cavalier, and all his sons, John, 
William, Thomas and Henry, came to Virginia, as well as a 
whole host of jMallorys. Airs. Alallory had also two uncles in 
A irginia, William and Henry Batte. 

Rev. Roger Green was another minister in the colonv who 
sometimes officiated at Jamestown. He was at Jamestown in 
1656, and in 1661 published in England a pamphlet entitled 
Virginia's Giirc or an Advisive concerning Jlrginia, Discov- 
ering the true ground of that ChurcJi's unhappincss. In 1653, 
he was a minister of Nansemond County, and on his petition 
the general assembly granted 10,000 acres of land to the first 
100 persons, who should settle on the Roanoke and Chowan 
Rivers. He was still alive in 1671, when the general assembly 
ordered the vestry of the parish of James City to pay to Mr. 
Green 1,200 pounds of tobacco for the accommodation of their 
minister, Mr. Samuel Jones. ^ 

Rev. Morgan Godzvin entered Oxford in 1661, and received, 
March 16, 1665, the degree of A. B., and soon after came to 
Virginia, where he took charge of Marston Parish in York 
County. His father, Rev. Morgan Godwin, was archdeacon 
of Shropshire, his grandfather, bishop of Plereford, and his 
great-grandfather, Thomas Godwin, bishop of Bath and Wells. 
He resided for a short time at Jamestown, and, after visiting 
the West Indies, returned to England, where, in 1680, he pub- 
lished a dissertation against slavery, called The Negroes' and 
Indians' Advocate. Five years later he preached a sermon at 

1 Neill, Virginia Carolonim, 233, 234, 290, 420. 



142 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Westminster Abbey against the evils of the slave-trade, thus 
preceding Wilberforce and Clarkson more than a century.^ 

Rev. Justinian Ayluicr was born in 1635, and was probably 
the Justinian Aylmer who matriculated at Trinity College, Ox- 
ford, July 23, 1656, and became B. A. October 24, 1657, and 
erroneously stated, as I believe, by Foster to have been rector 
of Ipswich in 1699. The pedigrees of Aylmer and Hone, and 
the connection of those families in Virginia, render it reason- 
ably certain that he was a grandson of Theophilus Aylmer, 
archdeacon of the diocese of London. In 1661, he was min- 
ister of Hampton Parish, York County, and there are some 
depositions about a cjuarrel which he had with the Quakers of 
York County. He appears to have been a little later minister 
of Jamestown, but died not long after, and his widow, Frances 
Armistead, married Lt.-Col. Anthony Elliott of Elizabeth City 
County, who died in 1666, and, thereupon, she married Captain 
Christopher Wormeley." The following order^ throws some 
light upon the church at Jamestown in November, 1671 : 

Whereas at last court Capt. Christopher Wormeley as marrying the 
relict of Mr. Aylmer deed late minister of James Citty obteyned Judgmt 
agt Major Hone and M"" May as members of the vestry for sixteene 
pounds thirteen shillings foure pence due to the said Aylmer as officiat- 
ing in his said ffunction. And whereas the said Hone and May sued 
Mr. Walter Chiles and Capt. ffra Kirkeman the prsent churchwardens, 
It is now ordered that the said Maj''Hone & Mr. May be repaid the said 
sum of sixteene pounds thirteen shillings foure pence by the said parish 
according to agreemt made w^h the said M"" Aylmer, according to an 
order of the said vestry, with costs als exec. 

Rev. Sauiuel Jones was minister after Aylmer's death, but 
hardly anything else is known of him.'* 

Rev. James IVadding filled the place of minister at James- 
town in 1672. He married Susannah, the widow of Mr. Wal- 
ter Chiles, son of Walter Chiles, Esq., of the council.'^ Mr. 
Wadding moved to Gloucester County, where he was minister 
of Petsworth Parish at the time of Bacon's Rebellion. He was 
a loyalist and refused to take the oath of allegiance exacted by 

1 Neill, Virgifiia Carolorum, 345. 

^Va. Maga::ine, V., 429; VH., 284; William and Mary Quart. Mag., 
VI., .^i, .32; XL, 30-33- 

3 General Court Records, 1665-1676. 

4 Neill, Virginia Carolorum, 420. 
^Ambler MSS., in Library of Congress. 



The Church. 143 

Bacon, and encouraged others to refuse. Thereupon, Bacon 
" committed him to the Card, telhng off him that it was his 
place to preach in the church, not in the camp. In the first, he 
might say what he pleased, but in the last, he (Wadding) was 
tc say no more than what should please him (Bacon) : unless 
he could fight to better purpose than he could preach." Not 
Icng after this, Bacon was taken very sick, and Wadding was 
the minister who attended him in his last illness at Major Pate's 
house on Poropotank Creek in Gloucester County.^ 

Rev. John Clough was minister of Jamestown during 
Bacon's Rebellion. He was an active supporter of Sir William 
Berkeley; being captured by Bacon, was condemned to death, 
but pardoned. He was minister of Southwark Parish in 
Surry in 1680, but appears to have returned to Jamestown Par- 
ish. His tombstone is still in the churchyard at Jamestown, 
according to which he died February 15, 1684.^ 

In 1680, Rowland Jones'^ appears as minister for Jamestown, 
as well as for Bruton and Martin's Hundred parishes. He was 
the son of Rowland Jones, vicar of Wendover, in Buckingham- 
shire ; was born in 1640 at Swinbrook, in County Oxford, 
England ; was an alumnus of Merton College, Oxford Univer- 
sity; was minister of the church of Middle Plantation (Will- 
iamsburg), and died there April 23, 1688, "after fourteen 
years of service." His tombstone which is in the churchyard 
at Williamsburg, describes him as '' pastor primus et dilectissi- 
miis." Among his descendants in Virginia was Martha Dan- 
dridge, wife of General George Washington. 

Rev. JoJin Clayton was minister at Jamestown from 1684 to 
1686. He was probably a graduate of Oxford University, as 
there are several John Claytons among the Oxford matriculates 
who might be taken for this man. In May, 1688, he was rector 
of Crofton at Wakefield, in Yorkshire. He was a member of 
the Royal Society, and was a great admirer of Hon. Robert 
Boyle, the philosopher and naturalist, to whom he wrote^ from 
Jamestown, June 23, 1684, describing a remarkable instance of 
animal electricity and the fly called the " fire-fly." He wrote 

1 An. Cotton, Bacon's Prosccdings. (Force, Tracts, I., No. xi, 28.) 

2 His name has been often rendered from the tombstone Cough, but 
Clough is right. 

3 William and Mary Coll. Quart. Mag., V., 192-197. 

4 Boyle, W or lis, V., 646. 



144 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



after his return to England several letters about Virginia^ 
which were published in the Transactions of the Royal Society. 
He was very fond of scientific studies, and his reflections on 
Virginia might have been more valuable but for his loss on the 
way thither of his scientific apparatus — " books, chymicall 
instruments, glasses, and microscopes." As it is, we are under 
great obligations to him for his description of Jamestown- 
Island, and of the soil, animals, and inhabitants of Virginia. 
In 1680, Thomas Clayton was a resident of Jamestown, and, in 
1705, arrived in Virginia John Clayton, son of Sir John Clay- 
ton. He became attorney-general, judge of the Admiralty, 

and died, aged seventy-two, 
in 1737. He was father of 
John Clayton, a celebrated 
botanist, who wrote " Flora 
Virginica," and had a botan- 
ical garden at Windsor, his 
home, in Gloucester County, 
Va. Whether Thomas Clay- 
ton or John Clayton, the at- 
torney general, was related 
to Rev. John Clayton is not 
known. 

Rev. James Blair, D. D.,^ 
became minister of James- 
town in 1694. He was born 
REV. JAMES BLAIR, D.D. in 1655, rcccivcd iu 1673 the 

degree of master of arts of the University of Edinburgh, and 
came to Virginia in 1685. He was, at first, minister of the 
churches in Henrico, and lived at Varina, on James River, 
where, inspired by his residence near the site of the old college 
formerly proposed by the London Company, he early conceived 
the notion of reviving that great undertaking. In 1689, he was 
appointed commissary of the bishop of London, and by virtue 
of his office presided in 1690 over the convention of the clergy 
at Jamestown, where he obtained the endorsement of his pro- 
ject of a college, and immediately brought the matter before 
the governor and the general assembly. Both endorsed him,. 




1 Sprague, American Pulpit, V., 7. 



The Church. 145 

and in 1692 he was sent by the general assembly to England 
as their agent to solicit a charter and money for the enterprise. 
Having proved successful, he determined, in 1694, to accept a 
call to Jamestown, so as to be nearer to the institution of which 
he had been appointed president. He was also made a member 
of the council, and thus his iniluence was felt in church, col- 
lege and state. On Sunday, April 25, 1703, Rev. George Keith 
entered the following in his journal: "I preached at James- 
town on John I. 3, at the request of Reverend Mr. Blair, min- 
ister there, and commissary, who very kindly and hospitably 
entertained us at his house." 

Dr. Blair remained minister of Jamestown till 1710, when 
he accepted the office of rector of Bruton Church and removed 
to Williamsburg that he might be still closer to the college 
which had been destroyed by a fire and was then being rebuilt. 
Under him the first full professorships of mathematics and 
natural science in the United States were established at the 
college. Dr. Blair acted as chief executive in the absence of 
Sir William Gooch in the Carthagena expedition, from June, 
1740, to July, 1 74 1. He was ever found battling for morality 
and the right, though he was often dictatorial and not always 
charitable in his opinion of others. He married Sarah Harri- 
son, daughter of Col. Benjamin Harrison, and while he left 
no children, his brother, Dr. Archibald Blair, is numerously 
represented in Virginia and in the South. 

Rev. John Warden, a Scotch clergyman, served six months 
as minister at Jamestown, after his arrival in Virginia in 1712. 
He afterwards served at Weyanoke and ]\Iartin Brandon par- 
ishes, and in 1717 became minister at Lawne's Creek, Isle of 
Wight County, but in 1725 being accused by the vestry to the 
council for " notorious immoralities," he promised to depart 
the colony.^ 

Rev. Peter Fontaine was a son of Rev. James Fontaine, a 
French Huguenot, descendant of the noble family of the Fon- 
taines in Maine, France. Like Warden he preached a short 
time at Jamestown after his arrival in Virginia in 1716. At the 
end of six months he left for Westover Parish in Charles City 
County, where he was the friend of the eminent William Byrd 

1 Council Journal. 
10 



146 The Cradle of the Republic. 

of Westover. In 1728-29, he was the chaplain to the Virginia 
commission appointed to lay out the boundary line between 
Virginia and North Carolina, the history of which was so enter- 
tainingly written by Colonel Byrd. He died in July, 1757, and 
he has many descendants in the male and female lines. ^ 

Rcz'. Hugh Jones came to Virginia from England in 1716, 
upon the recommendation of the bishop of London, and was 
appointed to the chair of mathematics in the college of Wil- 
iam and Mary. While resident in Williamsburg he preached 
at Jamestown, and served also as chaplain of the "general 
assembly and lecturer in Bruton Church. He left the province 
for England in 1722, and in 1724 brought out in London his 
valuable book on " The Present State of Virginia." written in a 
sprightly and suggestive style. Returning to America in the 
Intter year he resumed his parochial work in St. Stephen's Par- 
ish, King and Queen Count}', Virginia, but in 1726 he went to 
Maryland where he served in several parishes, viz. : William 
and ]\Iary Parish, in Charles County, North Sassafras Parish 
and St. Stephen's Parish in Cecil County. He remained minis- 
ter in Maryland for many years, and persuaded the people to 
build brick churches instead of cheap wooden structures. At 
length he died September 8, 1760, and was succeeded by his 
nephew, Rev. William Barroll. In his will he expresses the 
desire to be buried with his feet to the westward, contrary to 
the usual mode of burial. " He wished," he said, " to be facing 
his people as they arose from their graves. He was not 
ashamed of them." " 

Rcz'. irilliajii Lc Nc-ve^' arrived in Virginia from England 
on St. IMatthew's Day, 1722. He took charge of the church at 
Jamestown October 5, 1722, where he preached two Sundays 
in three. Every third Sunday he preached at Mulberry Island 
church, and in the afternoon he officiated as lecturer at Will- 
iamsburg. He received from Jamestown sixty pounds sterling; 
from Mulberry Island thirty pounds sterling, and from Will- 
iamsburg twenty pounds sterling — in all about no pounds 
sterling — the equivalent of about $2,500 at the present time. 

1 Maury, A Huguenot Faiuily in America, 332-355. 

2 SpragTie, American Pulpit, V., 9-13; JVilliam and Mary Coll. Quart., 
X., 202 

"Perry, Papers relating to the CInircli in Virginia, 264-266. 



The Church. 



147 



His congregation at James City Church consisted of about 130 
persons, that at Mulberry Island of about 200, and at the lec- 
ture at Williamsburg he generally had above 100 persons in 
attendance. He let the glebe by the year, and James City Par- 
ish gave him about seven pounds sterling per annum for fur- 
nishing his own house and keeping it in repair. He stated that 
his parish of James City was about twenty miles long and 
twelve miles broad, and there were in it seventy-eight families. 
The church was decently and orderly provided with church 
service. How long Mr. Le Neve served is not known, but he 




COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY. 

As it appeared during the presidency of Dr. James Blair. 

was living at the James City Glebe in 1737. when he published 
an advertisement in the Gazette for a manager. 

Rev. IVilliam Preston represented James City Parish in the 
convention of the clergy in 1755.-^ He was son of Rev. William 
Preston, of Brougham, Westmoreland County, England, and 
was professor of moral philosophy in William and Mary Col- 
lege. He was a master of arts of Queen's College, Oxford 
University, and a great scholar. In 1757, he resigned his chair 
at the college because of the complaint of the college author- 
ities that '' contrary to all rule of seats of learning he had mar- 
ried^ and kept his wife, children and servants in College, which 
occasioned much confusion and disturbance." Neither was he 

1 Perry, Papers relating to tlic Cliurcli in I'irginia, 412, etc.; William 
and Mary Coll. Quart., III., 139, 140. 



148 The Cradle of the Republic. 

as abstemious from liquors as his calling required. After his 
return to England he was rector of Ormside. He died in 1778,, 
aged fifty-nine. His son, William Stephenson Preston, became 
rector of Warcop, in County Westmoreland, England, and this 
position was held by his great-grandson, Rev. Charles Mayes 
Preston, in 1894. Rev. William Preston was probably the last 
minister who officiated at Jamestown, for the church on the 
Main, about three miles from Jamestown, was built about this 
time, and became the regular church of James City Parish, in 
James City County. 

According to Bishop Meade, Rev. Mr. Berkeley was minister 
of James City Parish in 1758, but I know nothing of him. 

Rev. John Hyde Saunders^ was the son of John Hyde Saun- 
ders, of Cumberland County, and was in 1763 student of 
William and Mary College. In 1772, he was minister of James 
City Parish, and in 1773 was elected minister of St. James 
Southam, in Cumberland County, where he continued for many 
years. He was a great patriot during the Revolution, and in 
1775 was a member of the county committee. 

Rev. William Bland^ was rector of James City Parish in 
1774, He was a member of a family long distinguished in 
Virginia, ever since the arrival of the emigrant, Theodorick 
Bland, of Westover, in Charles City County. Mr. Bland mar- 
ried Elizabeth, daughter of President William Yates, of Wil- 
liam and Mary College, and she was buried at the upper 
church, in James City Parish, which was afterwards generally 
known as the " church on the Main," or " Main church." Mr. 
Bland was a warm supporter of the Revolution, which brought 
him into notice. He afterwards served as minister in 
Norfolk, about 1791. From him is descended General Roger 
A. Pryor, formerly of Virginia, now of New York. 

Rev. James Madison,^ D. D., preached at the " Main 
church," during most of his ministry. He was a cousin of 
James Madison, the eminent president of the United States, 
and, like his distinguished relative, was a man of consummate 
ability. As first bishop of the Episcopal Church of Virginia, 

1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., IV., 43. 

2 Meade, Old Churches, etc., 113, note. 

3 Sprague, American Pulpit, V., 318-324. 



The Church. 



149 



president of the college of William and IMary, and professor 
in it of natural philosophy and mathematics, and after- 
wards of political economy ?nd international law, he 
was necessarily a man of influence. He was an ardent pa- 
triot of the American Revolution, and the story is told 
of him that in his sermons and prayers he would never 
speak of heaven as a kingdom, but as that " great repub- 
lic, where there was no distinction of class, and where all men 
were free and equal." He was born August 27, 1749, was 
educated at the college, and 
in Europe, died March 6, 
1812, and lies buried in the 
college chapel. 

Some years before i\Ir. 
Madison's death, the congre- 
gation at the Main had 
almost dwindled away, and 
for this there were two rea- 
sons. Population had with- 
drawn from the rivers, and 
the old plantations situated 
thereon had fallen -into the 
hands of a few rich proprie- 
tors. Then most of the peo- 
ple had abandoned the Epis- 

1 r VI 1 L KT. REV. JAMES MADISON, D. D. 

copal faith, and become 

m.embers of the Baptist and Methodist denominations. The 
little remnant of Episcopalians soon ceased to meet at all. The 
church on the Island had long before fallen into ruins and 
gradually the Main church fell into ruins also. Now scarcely 
is there enough brick left to tell the site of the building, which 
often echoed the voice of one of the best and purest of men — 
James ]\Iadison, the honored president of William and Mary 
College. 




VIII. 



BLOCK HOUSES. 



In early American history the block house was universally 
used as a means of defense against the Indians. It was a 
structure made of heavy logs, having its sides loop-holed for 
musketry. 

The first block house at Jamestown was erected in the Spring 
of 1609. It was built at the beginning of the neck connecting 
the Island with the mainland, and was kept by a garrison, who 
prevented all ingress or egress, without the president's order.^ 

When Sir Thomas Gates arrived in May, 1610, during the 
horrors of the " Starving Time," he found the Indians " as fast 
killing without the fort as the famine and pestilence within. 
Only the block house (somewhat regarded) was the safetie 
of the remainder that lived ; which yet could not have pre- 
served them now many dayes longer from the watching, subtile 
and offended Indians who (it is most certainc) knew all this 
their weakness, and forbare too timely to assault the forte, or 
hazard themselves in a fruitless warr on such whome they were 
assured in short time would of themselves perish, and being 
provoked, their desperate condition myght draw forth to a 
valiaunt defense ; yet they were so ready and prepared, that 
such whome they found of our men stragled single beyond the 
bounds, at any time, of the block house, they would fiercely 
chardge (for all their pieces) as they did 2 of our people not 
many dayes Gates was come in, and 2 likewise they killed after 
his arrival 4 or 5 dayes/' 

When Sir Thomas Dale arrived, on the 19th of May, 161 1, 
besides other works undertaken by him was a second block 
house, " on the north side of our Back River, to prevent the 
Indians from killing our cattle." The description here should 
be taken to mean " on the Back River, on the north side of the 
Island." 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), I., 154. 

[150] 



Block Houses. 



151 



A block house on the northern side of the Back River would 
have been too exposed and remote. Nobody was living in that 
quarter then. It was completed by Gates, who arrived in 
August, 161 1. 

So Ralph Hamor, writing in 1615, spoke of two block houses 
within the island, " to observe and watch least the Indians, at 
any time, should swim over the Back River and come intO' the 
Island." 

A patent to Thomas Sully, of the Neck of Land, yeoman, 
August 14, 1624, described his lot of six acres as " butting 







A BLOCK HOUSE. 

Eastward upon a peece of ground called the blocke howse 
feild cleared in the time of the governm* of Sir Thomas Gates, 
Westward extending towards the path leading to the new 
blocke howse lately built, northward and upon a great marsh 
of the Back River, and Southward unto the markes there 
appointed, close to the highway bv the swampe." 

This third block house was erected probably in consequence 
of the Indian massacre of 1622, and as it was west of the old 
and separated from it by a lot of six acres, it stood doubtless 
further out on the neck. A grant^ to Richard Sanders in 1643, 



1 Va. Land Register, II., 12. 



152 The Cradle of the Republic. 

shows that this later structure was standing- twenty years after- 
wards ; for the land is stated as " Neare the block house, 
bounded west upon the River, East upon the marsh, North 
upon the block house land, and South upon the Land of 
Edward Challes." This block house was decayed in 1656, 
when a grant^ for fifteen acres, sixty-nine poles was made to 
John Bauldwin, of which five acres and sixty-nine poles were 
said to be located " at the old block house, beginning at the 
head of a swamp issuing into Back River." Bauldwin's tract 
was sold to William Sherwood, and a more accurate survey 
showed it to contain twenty-eight and one-half acres, as stated 
in another place. 

In 1694, a patent- to Sherwood for 308 acres, embracing 
Bauldwin's tract, described the land as " situate in James Citty 
and James Citty Island, beginning on James River at the head 
of a branch of Pitch and Tar swamp next above the State 
House," and proceeding by devious courses to Back River, and 
up the same to " Sandy Bay to a Persimmon tree under Block 
Jwusc hill, thence under the said Hill .west six chaines to James 
River, and down it to the head of the first mentioned branch." 

Block house hill, as proved by Sherwood's plat of 1680, pre- 
served among the Ambler MSS., stood on the first ridge about 
900 feet from the north end of the present sea wall ; and there- 
fore a wide interval of water intervened between it and the 
present shore of the Island. 

1 Va. Land Register, IV., 88. 

2 Ibid., VIII.. 3S4. 



IX. 

THE GLASS HOUSE. 

The Second Supply reached Jamestown in October, 1608, 
and brought eight Dutchmen and Poles to teach the colonists 
how to make glass, tar, pitch and soap ashes. ^ Soon after a 
house for the manufacture of glass was erected,- under the 
supervision of President John Smith, in the woods on the other 
side of the isthmus or connecting neck, " neare a mile from 
Jamestown ;" and when Newport returned to England in 
December, 1608, he carried with him as a portion of his cargo 
the specimens of glass which had been thus produced.^ In the 
spring of 1609 the manufacture of glass was continued by the 
colonists with success.'* 

Near the glass house, in February, 1609, Captain Smith had 
a hand-to-hand fight with Wowinchopunck, chief of the 
Paspaheghs. He had gone to the glass house to apprehend 
one of the Dutchmen, who, sent to Powhatan to build a house, 
had employed much of his time in training the Indians to fire- 
arms. Returning from the glass house alone, Smith encoun- 
tered the Indian chief by the way. who, seeing that Smith had 
only his sword, tried to shoot him, but Smith prevented the 
attempt by grappling with him at once. The Indian dragged 
Smith into the water to drown him, but the president got a 
firm hold on his throat and drew his sword to cut off the 
Indian's head ; but Wowinchopunck begged so piteously that 
Smith relented, and took him prisoner to Jamestown, whence 
he shortly after escaped. After that Wowinchopunck con- 
tinued his devilish practices, and, with his warriors, would lie 
in wait near the glass house and kill such of the whites as 
ventured too far. He was one of the " mightiest and strongest 
salvages '" that Powhatan had. At length, February 9, 1610, 
during the " Starving Time," President George Percy sent 
forth Ensigns Powell and Waller to surprise Wowinchopunck 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 122, 434. 

2 Ibid., 467. 
^ Ibid., 441. 

4 Ibid., 150, 471. 

[153] 



154 The Cradle of the Republic. 

and bring him, if possible, alive to town;" but finding that 
they could not do this, Ensign Powell rushed upon him, and 
" thrust him through with an arming sword." The savages, 
" with a mighty quickness and speed of foot." recovered the 
werowance's body and carried it off with a horrible yelling 
and howling. But Lieutenant Puttock, of the block house, 
followed hard upon them, and closing with one of the " cro- 
nockoes," or chief men, threw him down, and with his dagger 
sent him to accompany his master out of the world. ^ 

In 1 612, Strachey mentions that " the country wants not 
salsodiack to make glasse of, and of which we have made some 
stoore in a goodly howse sett up for the same purpose, with 
all offices and furnases thereto belonging, a litle without the 
Island where Jamestown stands." " 

After this time, nothing more is heard of the glass house till 
1 62 1, when some private adventurers, with consent of the 
London Company, contracted with Captain William Norton 
to go over to Virginia and set up a glass furnace. Norton 
took four Italians and two servants with him. restored the 
glass works, and made all manner of glass, especially beads, 
for trade with the Indians.^ 

In 1622. the Indian massacre caused an interruption of the 
work, as everybody had to make tobacco to provide necessities 
of life. 

In 1623, Norton died, and George Sandys (treasurer of the 
colony and brother of Sir Edwin Sandys), who had been 
appointed to oversee the glass works, in case of Norton's death,, 
took charge, but he met with great difficulty in the work. On 
one occasion he sent his shallop as far as the Falls for sand, 
but the glassmen could not find any that would suit ; he 
had then sent it to Cape Henry where he obtained better 
material, but the quality was still so unsatisfactory that Sandys 
wrote to John Ferrar to send him two or three hogsheads from 
England.^ 

The Italians had no heart in the work, and in order to get 
an excuse to return to England, Vincenzio, the foreman, broke 
the furnace with his crowbar ; and Sandys was so disgusted 

* Strachey, Travailc into Tlrginia Britannica, 59. 
2 Ibid., 71. 

2 Neill, London Company. 231. 

* Bruce, Economic History of Virginia, II., 440. 



The Glass House. 



155 




that he used some strong prose in referring to the glass 
workers, " a more damn'd crew hell never vomited." ^ 

Sandys, doubtless, was 
more expert in writing 
verses and raising silk 
worms in Captain Peirce's 
house in Jamestown, than 
in managing a glass 
factory. 

In February, 1625, 
there were still five of 
these glass workers at the 
glass house near James- 
town.2 

The glass house fell 
into disuse, and about 
twelve years later Sir 
John Harvey granted^ the george sandys. 

twenty-four acres on which it formerly stood to Anthony Cole- 
man, whose heir, Edward Knight, conveyed the land to John 
Senior. The latter assigned it to John Fitchett, who sold it to 
John Phipps, and he in turn assigned it to William Harris, and 
from Harris it came to Col. Francis Moryson, who patented it 
on June i, 1654 — paying a quit rent of six pence per year, to 
commence seven years after the patenting. 

On this ground, where an old chimney stood, probably a 
relic of the glass factory, stirring scenes in 1676 were 
witnessed. On September 13th of that year. Bacon, having 
marched forty miles since daybreak, came at nightfall with his 
tired men into Paspahegh old fields, whence, advancing with a 
small body of cavalry on the sandy beach before the town, he 
fired his carbine in defiance to Governor Berkeley, and com- 
manded his trumpeter to sound. 

All the night was spent in cutting a trench and 
felling trees, and the sun rose on the 14th to 
find Bacon and his men behind a good breastwork, 
safe from the cannon of the ships and the town. 
The better to direct the movements of his troops, he stationed 

1 Neill, J'irginia Vctusta, 121. 

2 Hotten, Emigrants to America, 235. 

3 WUliam and Mary Coll. Quart., XL, 88. 



156 The Cradle of the Republic. 

a constant sentry on the top of the brick chimney " to discover 
from thence how the men in town mounted and dismounted, 
posted and repostcd, drew on and off, what number they were 
and how they moved." 

On the i6th, Sir Wilham's men made a salK' with horse and 
foot, but Bacon's men received tiiem so warmly that they 
retired in g-reat disorder, leaving several of their men dead 
upon the neck. 

Then Bacon managed to get some cannon, and in order to 
piace them in position, he sent off and captured the wives of 
the leading councillors — Madam Elizabeth Bacon, wife of 
Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, Sr. ; Madam Angelica Bray, wife of 
Colonel James Bray ; Madam Elizabeth Pag.e, wife of Colonel 
John Page ; Madam Anna Ballard, wife of Colonel Thomas 
Ballard, and other ladies, and the next morning he presented 
them to the view of their friends and husbands in the town, 
their wdiite aprons iiuttering a truce from the top of his small 
bulwark. This ruse succeeded, and the guns having been placed 
in position, without a shot from town, the ladies were with- 
drawn, and the fire of the cannon directed upon the shipping 
and the works of Governor Berkeley across the neck. 

The result was that, in a day or two, the governor, despair- 
ing of success, w^as compelled to take to his ships at night and 
leave the city to its fate, w'hich the very next night was burned 
to the ground by Bacon — September 19, 1676. 

The exposure and hardships to which Bacon was subjected 
in the " trenches " here are supposed to have given him the 
disease of which he died October 26,^ 1676, at the house of 
j\Iajor Thomas Pate, in Gloucester County. 

January 24, 1677, Sir William Berkeley held a court-martial 
at Greenspring, three miles distant, when Colonel James Crews, 
Captain William Cookson, and Captain John Digby (or Derby) 
were sentenced to death as rebels. These men, who, as par- 
ticular friends of Bacon, had been in the fight at the glass 
house, were carried to the same place by order of Sir William 
Berkeley and hung. In 1703, the glass house land was owned 

■• This is the date given in the British Calendar of State Papers, 
Colonial, 1675-1676, p. 476, but the author of a Narrative of the Indian 
and Colonial IVars gives October i, 1676. 



The Glass House. 



157 



by William Broadrib; and in 1709 his executors, Major George 
Marable, Benjamin Eggleston, and Broadrib's widow, Lydia, 
then wife of Christopher Smith, clerk of Jamestown church 
and master of the Indian School at William and Mary College, 
sold the same to William Brodnax.^ 

Among the relics of the past still picked up on the shores 
of Jamestown Island, and the Main, are beads and other trin- 
kets of glass, probably the manufacture of this first American 
glass factory. 

'^Ambler MSS. in Library of Congress. 




A VIEW OF THE RIVER FROM JAMESTOWN ISLAND. 



X. 



THE GOVERNORS HOUSE. 



Captain John Ratcliffe had in the days of his presidency 
(September lo, 1607, to July, 1608) started to build a house 
for the governor near the fort, and Captain Smith (president 
from September 10, 1608, to September 10, 1609) had " stayed 
the work as needless;"^ but in 161 1-1614 Sir Thomas Gates, 
who brought his daughters with him to Virginia, erected " at 
the charges and by the servants of the company," a governor's 
house of framed timbers at Jamestown.- There was a garden 
attached, in which Gates planted the seeds of the English 
apple and pear with the view of grafting them upon the 
native crab.^ 

This house was enlarged by Sir Samuel Argall in 1617, and 
was confirmed to the governor's use, in 16 18, by Instructions 
from the London Company to Sir George Yeardley.'* It 
probably stood outside of the stockade on the fourth ridge 
where the " New Towne " was afterwards laid out. Sir George 
Yeardley's wife was a widow, Temperance West, and she 
and her children, Elizabeth, Argall and Francis were living at 
Jamestown in 1625. Yeardley's successor. Sir Francis Wyatt, 
who was governor from 1621 to 1626, doubtless lived in the 
governor's house built by Gates, which would identify its 
location with that of the ruins of the Jaquelin-Ambler House. 
Yeardley then a member of his council lived on the second 
ridge north of Wyatt, and to his west was a park. Wyatt's wife 
was Margaret Sandys, niece of Sir Edwin Sandys, and " Good 
Newes from Virginia " ^ has some quaint verses in her honor. 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 121. 

^A Breife Declaration in State Senate Doc. (extra), 1874, 80. 

•» Hamor, True Discourse. 23. 

4 ]^a. Mairasine. II., 158. 

^ Neill, Virginia Vetiista, 147-153. 

[158] 



The Governor's House. 



159 




But last of all that Lady faire 

that woman worth renowne 
That left her Countrey and her friends 

to grace brave James his Towne. 

The wife unto our Governor 

did safely here arrive 
With many gallants following her 

Whom God preserve alive 

What man would stay when Ladies gay 

both lives and fortunes leaves 
To taste what we have tnily fowne — 

truth never man deceaves. 

In 1626, Wyatt returned to England with his family and 
Yeardley was then governor till November, 1627, when he died 
and was succeeded, first, 
by Francis West, and then 
by John Pott. In 1630, 
Sir John Harvey became 
governor, and we are told 
that his private residence 
was a kind of public guest 
house, not only for strang- 
ers but for members of the 
council and their retinues, 
who sometimes stayed with 
him a month at a time. To 
meet the public exp(?cta- :/ 

tions he was under the 
necessity of applying his 

domestic servants to the col. fhilip ludwell. 

public use and to kill even some of his own draft oxen to 
supply his table. When Wyatt succeeded him as governor in 
1639, he purchased the new brick house of Richard Kempe, 
and probably resided in it till the incoming of Sir William 
Berkeley, who appears to have made the same building his 
residence till he sold it to Walter Chiles in 1649. ^ 

After that time Berkeley probably lived in a brick house 
adjoining the state house, which upon his retirement, in 1652, 
from the government to his country house at Greenspring, he 
sold in 1655 to Richard Bennett.- 

^ Ambler MS S. in Library of Congress. 
2 Hening, Statutes at Lari^e, L, 407. 



/ 



i6o 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



Greenspring is situated upon Powhatan Swamp in James 
City County and takes its name from " a very green spring 
that is upon the land," which was reported^ by Rev. John 
Clayton as " so very cold that 'tis dangerous drinking thereof 
in summer time." This spring is still one of the attractions of 
the place. Greenspring estate was granted to Sir William 

Berkeley by the quarter 
court in Virginia, June 4, 
1643, and comprised at 
first 984 acres, but it was 
subsequently increased to 
1,090 acres.^ Near it on 
Powhatan Swamp was a 
tree called Powhatan's 
Tree, being probably the 
oak tree on which at Ope- 
chahcanough's request 
was hung the brass hav- 
ing upon it the words of 
the peace concluded at the 
marriage of Pocahontas, 
in 1614. 

Berkeley's brick house 
was two stories and a half high, and had six rooms and a 
large hall ten feet wide, and the dimensions of its present 

ruins are: length forty-eight feet, width forty-three feet six 
inches. There were also two wings, which may have been 
added at a later day — one of which is still standing — length 
twenty-six feet two inches, breadth sixteen feet six inches. 
Greenspring was plundered by Nathaniel Bacon and his 
followers in 1676, and after Berkeley's death, in 1677, his 
widow, Frances Culpeper, married Col. Philip Ludwell, of 
Rich Neck in the same county (brother of Thomas Ludwell, 
the secretary of state), and thus the place descended in the 




LUCY HIGGINSON. 
First wife of Col. Philip Ludwell. 



^ Force, Tracts, III., No. xii, 13. 
2 Va. Magazine, V., 383. 



The Governor's House. 



i6i 



Ludwell family, through three successive PhiHp Ludwehs, till 
it came to Hon. William Lee, who married Hannah Philippa, 
the eldest daughter of the last Philip. During the occupancy 






C!^^ 



of the Ludwells, the lawn at Greenspring was beautifully ter- 
raced, and there were hothouses in which southern plants were 
grown. Thus Hon. John Blair, in his diary under date of 
March i8, 1751, speaks of "gathering oranges " there during 
a visit. ^ 

Col. Herbert Jeffreys, who succeeded Berkeley in 1677, 
had his residence at Middle Plantation — Jamestown being in 
ruins, as the result of Bacon's Rebellion; and Sir Henry 
Chicheley, governor in 
1679, resided^ at Rosegill, 
on the Rappahannock, IXJ rjt' 
having married Agatha 
Eltonhead, the widow of 
the former proprietor. Col. Ralph Wonneley. 

Lord Thomas Culpeper, a cousin of Lady Frances Berkeley, 
became governor in 1680, and had his residence,^ while in the 
colony, at Greenspring, which he rented for ^150 sterling. 

Culpeper's successor, Lord Howard, of Effingham, who was 
governor from 1684 to 1688, lived'* like Chicheley, during 
most of his time, at Rosegill, 
then the residence of Col. Ralph 
Wonneley, Jr. . 

Nathaniel Bacon, Sen., who. 
as president of the Council, 
was acting governor from the 
departure of Lord Howard to the arrival of Francis Nicholson, 
lived during the time on York River, at the left side of King's 
Creek, first settled by Capt. John L'tie in 1630. 

1 Wiliiam and Mary Coll. Quart., VII., i37- 

2 Ibid., VI.. 152. 

3 Culpeper's Report. 

4 William and Mary Coll. Quart., VI., 153. 

II 






i6p. The Cradle of the Republic. 

Col. Francis Nicholson and Sir Edmund Andros lived at 
Jamestown, but when, in 1699, the capital was transferred to 
Williamsburg, Nicholson, then serving- his second term as gov- 
ernor, had his residence at j\Ir. John Young's ordinary^ in 
Williamsburg. 

In 1705, a large brick house for the governor, called the 
palace, was erected at Williamsburg. It had a handsome 
cupola, which was lighted up at night on public occasions, a 
large green lawn in front, and extensive grounds adorned with 
ponds, gardens and terraces. 

The palace was burned during the Revolution, while it was 
occupied as a hospital for the American army ; and, long 

a/' 

after, the site became the property of William and Mary 
College. After the collapse of Bacon's Rebellion, Richard 
Lawrence, Thomas Whaley and John Forth, Bacon's 
friends, fled to the woods in snow ankle deep, and were never 
heard of again. But Thomas Whaley left in York County a 
son. James Whaley, who married Mary Page, daughter of 
Matthew Page, of Jamestown, and niece of Colonel John 
Page. This couple had an only son Mattey (Matthew), who 
died while a child, and so " to eternalize Mattey's name for- 
ever," Mrs. Wdialey established, in 1706, near Williamsburg, 

y>\ a free school for boys. 

QQO A^ ^Irs. Whaley died in Eng- 

■^rC^2/^'''A^^7VAt <5^^ land, in 1742, leaving most 

^^ ^^y of her estate to this school. 

To get the money the 
church wardens of Bruton Parish, who had charge of the 
school, sued the executor in England. But soon after the suit 
was instituted, the Revolution broke out and the school sus- 
pended ; and the fund in England was lost sight of. Nearly 
a hundred years later, in 1867. some money belonging to this 

1 Perry, Papers Relating to the Church in Virginia, 170. 



The Governor's House. 163 

charity was handed over by the EngHsh courts to the author- 
ities of WilHam and Mary College, who, undertaking to ad- 
minister the trust, erected the brick building now standino 
where the palace once stood, and established in it a school 
called " the Mattey Whaley Observation and Practice School 
of William and Mary College."^ 

In the churchyard of Bedfont Parish, England, is the 
tombstone of Mary Whaley, and in the churchyard of Bruton 
Parish, Virginia, lies buried her husband, James Whaley. The 
upright marble slab, which forms the eastern end of James 
Whaley 's box tomb, has upon it engraved these words : 

MATTHEW WHALEY lyes Interred here 

Within this Tomb upon his FATHER dear. 

Who Departed 

This Life the 26*1^ of 

September, 1705. Aged 

Nine vears. onlv child 
of TAMES WHALEY 
and MARY his wife. 



1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., IV., 3-15. 



XI. 

THE STATE HOUSE. 

The first general assembl}' of Virginia, which met July 
30, 1619, held its meetings in the new timber church erected 
not long before at the present brick tower. It consisted of the 
governor, six councillors, and twenty burgesses representing 
ten plantations. The burgesses of Martin's Brandon were 
refused a seat because of the independence asserted by the 
proprietor, Captain John Martin. The speaker of the as- 
sembly was John For}", a master of arts of the university 
of Cambridge, and at that time colonial secretary of state. 
As is tlie custom in the house of commons to-day, the mem- 
bers Avore their hats, and insisted on their privileges. Many 
important acts were passed, and the earliest assembly in the 
oldest of the original States, at its first session, took measures 
for the education of the Indians and for the erection of a 
imiversity and college.^ 

In imitation of a Scotch parliament, the governor, council, 
and burgesses in the first assembly sat as one bocW, but it is 
probable, however, that this practice prevailed only during 
the existence of the company, and that, Avhen the assembly 
came together in 1628 after the dissolution of the charter, 
the burgesses in imitation of the house of commons sat 
apart. We have none of the early journals of the general 
assembly after 1619 and previous to 1652, but in Hening's 
Stafitfcs at Large one of the acts passed- in the year 1647 
has a reference to the " members of both houses," showing 
that the council and burgesses sat apart at that time, and 
probably had been doing so ever since the reorganization in 
1628. From 1652 on, there is plenty of evidence of the bi- 
cameral nature of the general assembly. Thus in the orders 
published by Flening for the sessions during the common- 
wealth (1652-1660) the burgesses clearly act as an organized 

^Journal of the Assembly of 1619, in State Senate Doc. (extra), 1874. 
2 Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 341. 

[164] 



The State House. 165 

body independent of governor and council.'' are called a 
house,- and have their own clerk^ and rules of government.'* 
The same condition of things is revealed by the journal after 
the Restoration,'"' and we have the authority of Rev. Roger 
Green,*^ who had been to Jamestown and wrote in 1662 as 
follows: " AVhatever is of public concernment in Virginia is 
determined by their Grand Assemblies, wdiich are usually held 
once a year and consist of Governor and Council, which make 
the upper house, and the Burgesses wdiich represent the 
People, and make the lower house, and are chosen out of 
every county by the People, after the manner that Burgesses 
are chosen for Parliament in England '•'' " ''\ What- 
soever passes into an act of Assembly must be agreed'd 
upon by the major part of the Burgesses ''•' ''■'■ '' ." And in 
1676, T. ]\I.'s narrative shows that the council and bvirgesses 
had dil^"erent rooms in the state house." 

With this evidence it seems impossible to reconcile Bever- 
ley's statement^ that " the council and burgesses were joined 
till 1680, when Lord Culpeper, taking advantage of some 
disputes among them, procured the council to sit apart from 
the assembly." And yet probably Beverlev's words must not 
be taken too literall}' as there was some commingling" of the 
two houses previous to 1680 or, at least, previous to 1676, 
which did not exist after that time. A resolution-' of the 
burgesses in 1658 that " all propositions and laws " — " shall 
be first discussed among the Burgesses only " * * '•'' in 
private " * ■•■ and not in presence of the Governor and 
Council," indicates that previous to 1658 the governor and 
councillors sat sometimes as advisers with the burgesses. 
After 1658, it was the practice for two councillors to sit, in 



1 See Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 371, 372, 37^, etc. 

2 Ibid., L, 507, 509, 511. 

3 Ibid., I., 377. 

4 Ibid., I.. 507. 

^ Ibid., II., 20-], 206. 

^Virginia's Cure (Force, Tracts. III., No. xv). 

■^ Force, Tracts, I., No. viii. 

s Beverley, Virginia, 187. Ii> another place in his history, page 37, 
the language might be interpreted to nxean that the council and 
burgesses never joined their houses again after the first meeting. 

^ Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 497. 



i66 The Cradle of the Republic. 

an advisory capacity, with the committees of the house, but 
this practice was discontinued about 1680, so that Beverley may 
have had this in mind when he wrote. 

It is almost certain that more than one session of the 
assembly was held in the old church, but how many we may 
never know. During Harvey's administration the council, 
and probably the burgesses, held their sessions at his residence, 
which was described as " a general harbor for all comers." 

It was the scene of an interesting incident in Harvey's time, 
when the colony was excited over the disruption of Virginia's 
territory by the charter of Maryland to Lord Baltimore. Har- 
vey, who was very unpopular as a friend of Lord Baltimore, 
suppressed a petition addressed by the people to the king on 
the subject of the tobacco trade and justified an attack by Lord 
Baltimore's men upon a pinnace of Claiborne engaged in the 
fur trade from Kent Island. At York on April 5, 1635. a meet- 
iiig of protest was held at the house of William Warren, near 
the present Yorktown, where the chief speakers were Captain 
Nicholas Martian, an ancestor of Washington, Captain Francis 
Pott, and William English, the sheriff of Charles River County 
(York). Harvey was enraged at the proceeding and caused 
the leaders to be arrested and threatened them with the gallows. 
Then he called a council at his house at Jamestown, and de- 
manded the execution of martial law upon the prisoners ; and, 
when the council declined to give the order, he paced up and 
down the council room in great anger. After a while, he took 
his seat, and with a frowning countenance demanded an imme- 
diate answer to this question : " Wliat do you think they 
deserve that have gone about to persuade the people from 
obedience to his j\Iajesty's substitute?" 

George Menifie, of Littletown, to whom the question was 
first directed, adroitly evaded it by saying, " I am but a young 
lawyer, and dare not upon the sudden deliver my opinion." 
The governor required this answer to be set down in writing; 
and when William Farrar of Henrico, another member, com- 
plained of the unreasonableness of the question, Harvey, in his 
majesty's name, forbade him to speak until his turn. Captain 
Mathews, of Denbigh, not deterred by this, commenced with a 



The State House. 



167 




i68 The Cradle of the Republic. 

remark similar to Farrar's, and was interrupted by a like com- 
m,and. But after this, the rest of the council began to speak, 
and refused to be so questioned. The next day there was 
another meeting, and Harvey sternly demanded the reason of 
the country's opposition to him. When Menifie informed him, 
Harvey rose in a great rage, and said to Menifie, " And do you 
say so?" He replied "Yes." In a fury Harvey clapped 
Menifie on the shoulder and said, '* I arrest you on suspicion 
of high treason to his Majesty." Captain John Utie, who was 
nearest, returned the blow, and said in a loud voice, " And we 
the like to you, sir." And, thereupon, the councillors crowded 
around Harvey ; and Captain ]\'Iathews, throwing his arms 
about him, forced him into a chair, telling him to be quiet as 
no harm was intended to him. In the meantime, Dr. John 
Pott, who stood at the door, waved his hand, and fifty armed 
musketeers, previously concealed, appeared. In May, an 
assembly was convened, which ratified the work of the council, 
and confirmed as governor Captain John West, brother of the 
late Lord Delaware ; and Harvey was soon after put aboard a 
ship and sent ofif to England in the custody of Francis Pott 
and Thomas Harwood. The deposition of Sir John Harvey 
was the first vindication on the American continent of the con- 
stitutional right of a people to order their own government. 

In 1637, Harvey had returned, and in 1639 he wrote that a 
levy had been laid by the general assembly for building a 
state house, and an act, passed in January, 1640, provided for 
a further levy of two pounds of tobacco. George IMenifie was 
sent to England for mechanics, and about this time the coun- 
try house in " New Towne " was erected for their entertain- 
ment. But it is not believed that a state house was actually 
built. 

In the vicissitudes of party, AVyatt succeeded Harvey in No- 
vember, 1639, and Wyatt's council ordered all the late gov- 
ernor's property to be sold to pay his debts. And, accord- 
ingly, Harvey on April 7, 1641, conveyed^ to the colonial 
government for 15,700 pounds of tobacco " all that capital, 
messuage or tenement now used for a courthouse, late 
in the tenure of Sir John Harvey situate and being with- 

1 Robinson's Abstracts of Council Proceedings. 



The State House. 169 

in James Citty Island in Mrginia, with the old house, and 
granary, garden, and orchard, as also one plot of ground 
lying and being on the west side of said capital and messuage, 
as the same is now enclosed." This property is believed 
to have been the two houses and orchard which were 
presented^ by the general assembly, in 1642, to the new 
governor, Sir William Berkeley. The latter built a third 
brickhouse adjoining the two, and the three formed 
a block, of which the middle, the " old courthouse," was 
what is referred to in the records as " the state house." 
Probably Sir William Berkeley lived in the last of the build- 
ings ; and when he removed to Greenspring after the change 
in government, he sold- it for 27,500 pounds of tobacco to 
Richard Bennett, Esq., describing it as '" the westermost of 
those three brick houses which I then built." 

Several grants of land show that this first state house was 
in the " New Towne " east of the churchyard. There is first 
a grant^ of an acre, 23 rods long, to John White, dated August 
28, 1644, placing the churchyard on the west, the land apper- 
taining to the state liouse on the east, and the land of Rev. 
Thomas Hampton towards the north. There is the lease'* of 
one acre in 1643 ^ Captain Robert Hutchinson, " Anciently 
belonging to Mr. Samuel Mole, bounded South upon the River, 
North towards Passbyhaes. West upon the land of John 
Osborne and towards the State House." " Passbyhaes," re- 
ferred to here, was a general direction, as any of the country 
outside of the Island was in the Indian district " Passbyhaes." 

The state house must have ceased to be used for govern- 
ment purposes sometime previous to June, 1656, since in De- 
cember of that year Thomas Woodhouse, an ordinary keeper, 
was allowed"" by the assembly 2,500 povmds of tobacco " for 
the quarter courts (general court) setting at his house two 
courts and for the committee's accommodation." The two 
previous quarter courts sat in June and September, 1656. 
. Abstracts of three deeds of Sir William Berkelev, dated 



1 Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 267. 

2 Ibid., i., 407. 

^ Va. Land Register, II., 10. 

■*Ibid., I., 944. 

5 Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 425. 



I/O 



The Cr.\dle of the Republic. 




April 3, 1670, once on record in the general court, affirm that 
the state house was destroyed by fire, and that it was the 
middle building of three, each forty feet by twenty, all of 
which were generally referred to as the " State House." By 
the terms of the deeds mentioned, Sir William conveyed " the 
ruins " of all three buildings to Henry Randolph, of Henrico,, 
and the westernmost, which sold for twenty-five pounds ster- 
ling, was described as " the remains, foundations and brick 
work of a certain house or messuage that was burned, forty 
feet long by twenty feet broad, being the westermost part of 
the ruined fabric or building adjoining the old State House, 
which said ruined messuage was formerly in the occupation of 
Richard Bennett, Esq.," including half an acre adjacent.^ 

-, There is a grant- to 

Thomas Ludwell and 
Thomas Stegge, dated 
January i, 1667, for 
an half acre in James 
• City, lying on the river 
side, and adjoining to the 
westermost of those 
three houses, " all of 
which joyntly were for- 
merly called by the name 
of the State House," be- 
ginning " close to the wall 
where the said wester- 
most house joynes to the 
middle house, thence run- 
ning southwesterly 34 de- 
grees 67 feet to high-water mark, thence northwesterly 56 de- 
grees up the river side 120 feet, thence northeasterly 34 degrees. 
181 feet and halfe, thence southeasterly 56 degrees 120 feet, 
thence southwesterly again 34 degrees through the said old 
State House, and the partition wall dividing the said wester- 
most house and middle house, 114 feet and halfe to the place 
w^here it first began." It appears then that the three buildings 



\ 




Sir Thomas Lunsford, Knight. 



1 J 'a. Magazine, VIII., 408. 

2 J 'a. Land Register, VI., 223. 



The State House. 171 

of which the state house was the middle constituted a block 
which was distant 67 feet from high-water and had a frontage 
of 120 feet and a depth of 20 feet. They stood in a lot ex- 
tending along the river 280 feet and running back 181 feet. 
Henry Randolph did not long retain the buildings ; for April 
7, 1671, he sold the westernmost fabric to Thomas Ludwell and 
Thomas Stegge, the middle building to Nathaniel Bacon, Sr,, 
executor of Allies Cary, deceased, and the eastern building 
(said to have been formerly in the occupation of Thomas 
Bailey) to Colonel Thomas Swann. Then bv his will proved 
Alay 15, 1671, Thomas Stegge left to Thomas Ludwell his 
interest in a 'house bought jointly with Ludwell of Henrv Ran- 
dolph.^ Subsequently Ludwell got a patent for half an acre of 
land adjoining this tenement, and on Alarch 17, 1672, recon- 
veyed the tenement with the land so adjoining to Sir William 
Berkeley, who originally owned it, for 150 pounds sterling. - 

As for several years after December, 1656, there is no fur- 
ther payment made by order of the assembly to ordinary 
keepers, the general assembly probably hired a building for 
governmental purposes. It therefore constituted the second 
" state house," and stood like the first on the fourth ridge ; 
for in October, 1656, John Bauldwin patented'^* ten acres on the 
river at the western shore of the Island, which is described as 
South upon the slash which lyeth between the State House " 
and Richard James" land. James' land was bounded by a 
southern line from " Frigett Landing," a«d east of this line 
Pitch and Tarr Swamp became the southern boundary of the 
fourth ridge. The second state house appears to have per- 
ished by fire before October, 1660, as during the assembly 
held that month an act was passed for allowing Thomas Hunt, 
an ordinary keeper, 3.500 pounds of tobacco for the use of his 
house for the assembly, and Thomas W'oodhouse 4.000 
pounds for the use of his house for governor and council. 
Indeed, in October, 1666, reference is made in an act to " two 
severall fires," which had destroyed some of the records in 
the secretarv's office. 



1 Nezv England Hist, and Gen. Mag., XXXIX., 161. 
2f'ff. Magazine. VIII., 409. 
STa. Land Register, IV., 88. 



172 The Cradle of the Republic. 

In October, 1660, Sir William Berkeley was asked by the 
general assembly to contract for a new state house, and sub- 
sequently in ?vlarch, 1661, a general subscription was started 
in order to avoid a tax levy. The governor, councillors, and 
burgesses headed the list ; and an order was passed that the 
several county courts and vestrys take subscriptions from the 
ether inhabitants.^ Probably no great sum was raised, and the 
assembly continued to hold their meetings at the ordinaries 
for several vears. September 16, 1663, the question was sub- 
mitted in the house of burgesses : " Since the charge the 
country is yearly at for houses for the quarter courts and 
assemblies to sit in v/ould in two or three years defray the pur- 
chase of a State House ; whether it were not more profitable to 
purchase for that purpose then continue forever at the expense, 
accompanied with the dishonour, of all our laws being made, 
and our judgments given, in ale houses." The next day. Col. 
William Barber, Col. Gerard Fowke, Lieutenant Colonel 
Kendall, Mr. Warren, Mr. Rawleigh Traverse and Mr. 
Thomas Lucas were appointed a committee to confer with the 
governor about the matter.^ 

The assembly had in December, 1662, passed an act to build 
a town of thirty-two brick houses at Jamestown, and April 10, 



w 






1665, Thomas Ludwell, the secretary of state, wrote' to Lord 
Arlington that they " had already built enough to accommodate 
the affairs of the country," by which it is supposed that the 
state house had been erected. The new state house, instead 
of standing like the other two on the river shore east of the 
church, stood on the third ridge above it, and its dimensions 
were seventy-four feet by twenty feet within the walls. It 
w^as two stories high, had probably garrets and dormer win- 
dows, and its roof was covered with tiles. The space in the 
first story was divided into two rooms, and the eastern division, 
wdiich was about forty-three feet long, was used by the council 

1 Hening, Statutes at Large, II., 38. 

2 Ibid., II., 204, 205. 

s British State Papers, Colonial, 1661-1668, p. 290. 



The State House. i73'. 

Ill discharge of its triple duty as the general court, advisory 
body to the governor, and upper house of legislation. The 
NA'estern room, about thirty-one feet long, was probably used as 
a waiting room for those having business at court. ^ On the 
north of the building was a wing, and on the south a porch 
connected with it bv a hall in which ran the stair-case to the 
upper story containing the apartments of the house of bur- 
gesses, and the ofiice of Thomas Ludwell, secretary of state.- 

Joining on to the state house was Philip Ludwell, Jr.'s block 
of three houses in length 3^ chains or 123^ feet, and westerly 
attached by a common wall was a " Country House," which 
must not be confounded with the country house in " New 
Towne." These four united buildings were each about forty 
feet square within the walls, and were divided longitudinally 
by a middle wall, in the nature of a prolongation of the north- 
ern wall of the state house, which suggests that these houses 
were enlarged to just twice their original size, being first 
forty by twenty feet, according to the specifications of the act 
of December, 1662, for rebuilding the town.'^ In February, 
1903, the earth overlying was removed, and the brick founda- 
tions of this block of connected buildings, and of the state 
house, about two hundred and forty feet long, were disclosed. 

Here in June, 1676, occurred an interesting incident in the 
history of the colony. On the 5th of the month, the assembly 
convened in the state house to take measures against the sav- 
ages, who had attacked the frontier settlers and committed 
many murders. Now, not long before, Nathaniel Bacon, one 
of the council, against the wishes of Governor Berkeley, went 
with an army and defeated the Occaneechees near the North 
Carolina line. .So when he came to the assembly, as a delegate 
from Henrico County, Berkeley, in towering wrath, had him 
arrested by ]\Iajor Theophilus Hone, high sheriff of Tames City 
Couijty. Sympathy, however, with Bacon was widespread, and 
Berkeley, soon finding it to his interest, aft'ected forgiveness, 
and offered to restore Bacon to his seat in the council on his 
making the proper apologies. Bacon was very unwilling to 

1 Yonge. Site of Old Jamestozvnc, 68. 

2 Ibid., 70. 

3 Ibid., 66. 



174 The Cradle of the Republic. 

humiliate himself, but was persuaded by his cousin Col. Na- 
thaniel Bacon, Sen., to make the submission required of him, 
and this is how it was done, as told by " T. M." in his narra- 
tive of Bacon's Rebellion} 

The burgesses, having elected their speaker, marched in a 
body downstairs to the council chamber to hear the governor's 
address ; and when they were all in the room, the governor, 
standing up before them, made this announcement: " If there 
be joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repent- 
cth, there is joy now, for we have a penitent sinner come before 
us. Call Mr. Bacon." In response Mr. Bacon came forward, 
and resting " upon one knee at the bar, delivered a sheet of 
paper, confessing his crimes, and begging pardon of God, of 
the King and the Governor." After this there was a profound 
silence which was broken by Berkeley with the words thrice 
repeated : " God forgive you, I forgive you." Thereupon, 
Col. William Cole, of the council, and afterwards secretary of 





^^^^^^^ fCo^e j/?5»?-w--* 



state, asked " and all that were with him? " " Yea," said the 
governor, " and all that were with him." Apparently, in this 
way, the affair between Berkeley and Bacon was settled, and 
that evening, as T. M. passed the door of the council cham- 
ber, he saw Mr. Bacon in his " quondam seat," with the 
governor and council. But as it resulted, it was only a 
brief truce, and the quarrel soon broke out between the two 
men with greater virulence than ever. 

Shortly afterwards, the house of burgesses appointed a 
committee on Indian aft'airs, and the governor sent -two 
members of the council to sit with them and give advice. 
The queen of Pamunkey, a relation of Opechancanough, 
was called before the committee, and she entered the 
chamber " with a comportment graceful to admiration," at- 

1 Force, Tracts, I., No. viii. 



The State House. 175 

tended on her right by an English interpreter and on her 
left by her son, a young man of twenty years. She was 
clothed in a mantle of dressed deer skins, having the 
hair outward and cut in fringes six inches long, from her 
shoulders to her feet ; and around her head she wore 
a " pleat of black and wdiite wampumpeake," three inches 
broad. After she had taken her seat at the table, the chairman 
asked her how many men she could provide for the colony in 
the war which now threatened them. At first she declined to 
speak, and by a motion of the head passed the question to her 
son, who also remained silent. When the chairman reiterated 
his question, the queen, after further silence, broke out in 
vehement reproaches against the English for their injustice and 
ingratitude. Twenty years before, her husband. Totopotomoi, 
had been slain with many of his men while assisting the Eng- 
lish in a battle with the Ricahecreans near a creek in Hanover 
County still bearing Totopotomoi's name, but she had never 
received the slightest compensation for her loss. " With a high 
shrill voice and vehement passion, she cried ' Totopotomoi 
Chipiack ! Totopotomoi Chipiack ! ' Totopotomoi is dead, 
Totopotomoi is dead ! " 

When her harangue was over, the chairman of the commit- 
tee, instead of show'ing sympathy, roughly pushed the question 
again : " How many Indians will you contribute ? " The queen 
looked at him scornfully, and when he again demanded an 
answer she, in a "slow slighting voice," answered ''Six" — 
although, at that very time, she had as many as 150 men in her 
towns in Pamunkey Neck. Further questioned, she said sul- 
lenly " Twelve," after which, as if disdaining to have any 
further treaty with the white men, she rose from her seat and 
abruptly quitted the room. 

Several days later, the governor resolved to rearrest Bacon, 
and early in the morning sent soldiers to search Lawrence's 
house where Bacon staid. But Bacon received notice of 
Berkeley's intentions, and hastened from the town to his plan- 
tation at Curls Neck thirty miles up the river. Here his 
friends rallied about him, and presently finding himself with a 
sufficient force he set out for Jamestown a second time. 

The governor, at first, was full of fight, but, finding his 
friends of a different mind, soon gave up the notion of defend- 



176 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



ing the place. June 23, 1676, Bacon crossed to the Island 
unopposed, and following the " Old Great Roade "marched to 
the third ridge, where, after dispatching squads of troops to 
secure the fort, the ferry, and the neck by which he had crossed, 
he drew up the rest of his forces, " horse and foot," on the 
green " not a flight shot from the end of the State House." 
Shortly the drum beat for the assembly to meet, and Bacon 
sent into the state house to demand a commission against the 
Indians. Thereupon, Sir William Berkeley came out, and at 
first angrily refused, dramatically tearing open his breast and 
crying out: "Here, shoot me — fore God, fair mark." But 
Bacon only replied, " No, ma}- it please your Honor, I come 
not. nor intend, to hurt a hair of your head, but I come for a 
commission against the heathen, who are daily spilling our 
brethren's blood ; and a commission I will have before I go." 
Many more words passed, till Bacon, growing tired of the 
interview, turned to his soldiers, and swearing a mighty oath, 
called out : " Make ready, present ! " The soldiers promptly 
directed their pieces to the windows of the state house, 

crowded with burgesses 
and councillors. 

One of these seeing the 
danger, shook a handker- 
chief out of the window 
and cried out to the sol- 
diers : " For God's sake, 
hold your hands and for- 
bear a little, and you shall 
have what you please." 
Upon which there was 
much hurrying and solici- 
tation, and the governor 
was finally induced to 
give the commission de- 
manded of him. Then, 
Lucius Gary, Lord Falkland. Bacon, who had now ob- 
tained all he desired, left town with his soldiers, and marched 
up to the Falls of the river, preparatory to going out a second 
time ac:ainst the Indians. 




The State House. 177 

As related on page 69, Bacon returned not long after and 
burned Jamestown, September 19, 1676; and this so greatly 
discouraged the general assembly . that, after peace was 
restored, they had some thought of establishing the capital in 
some other place, but they soon set to work to re-establish 
Jamestown, and on December 4. 1685, Mr. Auditor Bacon^ 
was ordered by the general assembly to pay " Col. Philip 
Ludwell £400 sterling out of ye money accruing from ye duty 
of three pence pr. gallon upon liquors for and in consequence 
of rebuilding ye State House, upon payment of which money 
Mr. Auditor is desired to take bond from Col. Ludwell for ye 
full compleating of ye House in such manner as shall be fully 
satisfactory to his Excellency, ye Council, and ye House of 
Burgesses, answerably good and equivalent to the condition of 
ye same." 

The following extract from a message addressed to the 
house by the governor during the session of the assembly of 
1685 shows that the third and fourth state house buildings 
occupied the same site and probably were of the same shape 
and proportions : " This day an addresse and some orders of 
yi' House have been presented to me & ye Council by some of 
yr members, and doe much wonder, you should propose soe 
unreasonably, as to desire our concurrence, in ye memorial 
(removal?) of ye secretaries office, wch ever since ye State 
House zcas first built, until burnt, has been continued in ye 
place you allot for an office for ye Clerk, soe that Mr. Secre- 
tary justly claims it by prescription, and you yourselves have 
soe consented and alsoe desired, that it be enlarged as by ye 
agreement made ye last Gen'l Assembly with Col. Ludwell." 

The new building then was the third state house restored, 
but, as indicated by the language of the order above cited, 
some changes were made in the assignment of the rooms. Con- 
trary to the wishes of the governor, the house of burgesses 
appropriated to their clerk, Robert Beverley, the porch room 
adjoining their hall on the second story, deeming the proximity 
of the secretary of state " both inconvenient and incom- 
modious to them whilst sitting : there being nothing spoken or 
proposed in ye House that was not equally to be heard there as 

1 Nathaniel Bacon, Sen. 
12 



1^8 The Cradle of the Republic. 

well as in ye Assembly room itself, besides ye same gave con- 
tinual opportunity to all sorts of persons to crowd before the 
Assembly room, under pretence of coming to ye Office." Lord 
Howard finally agreed to yield, if a room in the chamber 
adjoining the council room should be partitioned off: and fitted 
up for the secretary of state with shelves, tables and benches, 
at the cost of the country (the colony).^ 

Robert Beverley, the clerk, who was at the bottom of this 
contention, was one of the most interesting men of his times. 
During Bacon's Rebellion he and Philip Ludwell, brother of 
.Secretary Thomas Ludwell, had been Governor Berkeley's 
chief supporters, and when the war was over, they and other 
friends of Berkeley fell under the displeasure of the king's 
commissioners. Col. Herbert Jeffreys, Col. Francis Moryson, 
and Sir John Berry. In their zeal to get at the beginnings of 
Bacon's Rebellion upon which they were charged to report, the 
commissioners demanded the journals of the house of bur- 



^^/^^2^-^^e^l^T^ 




gesses, now composed of the friends of Sir William Berkeley ; 
but Beverley, who had them in charge declined to hand them 
over. This was a most fortunate incident for the fame of Bev- 
erley, as it identified him with the dearest rights of the popular 
branch of the legislature. A few years later, in 1682, he be- 
came identified with another great principle, the personal 
liberty of the citizen ; for being arrested by Governor Culpeper 
for participation in the conspiracy of the " Tobacco Plant 
Cutters," he underwent much persecution, and was denied 
the right of the habeas corpus writ, for which he applied. Still 
later he figured as the champion of the right of the assembly 
to lay taxes ; for when Lord Howard, of Effingham, endeav- 
ored to induce the house of burgesses to authorize him and the 
council to exercise that power, Beverley was foremost in urg- 
ing the burgesses to decline the request, which they did. As a 
consequence, he was deprived of his clerkship August i, 1686, 

1 McDonald Papers, in State Library. 



The State House. 179 

and the king, assuming the right of appointment, commis- 
sioned Captain Francis Page as his successor. Robert Bever- 
ley died about April, 1687, leaving a number of sons, among 
whom was Robert Beverley, the historian.^ 

The site of the fourth state house at Jamestown Island, and 
consequently of the third, is fixed by a patent^ for land at the 
west end granted in 1694 to William Sherwood, which 
describes the head of a branch of Pitch and Tar Swamp, begin- 
ning at the west end of the Island, as " next above the State 
House." This is further confirmed by recent excavations on 
the third ridge, which have disclosed the extensive brick foun- 
dations already referred to, corresponding to the outward 
manifestations described in 1837 by "Sir. Richard Randolph, 
who stated that there then existed on the ridge great quan- 
tities of bricks, plaster and other debris, prompting his con- 
jecture that " they were the remains of the Governor's or 
State House. "^ 

October 31, 1698, flames once more attacked Jamestown, and 
in this fire the state house and most probably all the other 
buildings on the third ridge, except the powder magazine, were 
destroyed. The consequences were fatal to the town, for no 
attempt was made to rebuild, and in 1699 the seat of govern- 
ment was removed to Williamsburg. There at the east end 
of a spacious avenue, facing the college at the west end, a 
brick building, in the form of the letter H, too pretentious in 
the eyes of Governor Nicholson to be called a state house, was 
erected. It was the first capitol so-called in the United States. 

It stood till 1746, when a fire broke out and destroyed it also. 
A new capitol was erected soon after on the same walls, which 
stood till 1832, when it was attacked by the same devouring 
agent, and perished like its predecessor. In 1840, a portion of 
the brick walls was used for the construction of a female 

1 J^a. Maga:;ijic, II., 40^-ai3 ; William and Mary Coll. Oitarf..Ul., 149. 

2 T'a. Land Register. VIII.. 384. 

^Southern Literary Messenger, III., 303. And in the Ambler MSS. 
in the Library of Congress there is a deed in 1694 from William Sher- 
wood to Francis Bullifant for two acres which are described as 
"bounded west by James River, southerly by the slash or branch that 
parts this land and the State House, easterly by the Create Roade, and 
northerly by the said slash that p[ar]ts this la'nd and the block house 
land." 



i8o 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



academy, which was in use till the war of 1861-1865, when 
the school was discontinued, and after several years the build- 
ing became the property of the Old Dominion Land Company, 
who pulled the academy down and removed the bricks. In 
1897 this company presented the site to the ladies of the Asso- 
ciation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and they 
have laid bare the ancient foundations of the capitol and patri- 
otically erected a monument on the spot where so much of the 
constructive work of the Revolution was performed. 




THE LONE CYPRESS 

300 feet from the western shore line of the Island. 



XII. 

SOCIAL CONDITIONS. 

Character of the emigrants. The emigrants sent over in the 
original ships and the " First " and " Second SuppHes " were 
largely gentlemen of the fearless stamp of Drake and Hawkins, 
and many of them had endured all sorts of hardships on land 
and sea. Indeed, it is a truth generally conceded that in all 
affairs requiring courage, fatigue and endurance young men 
of birth and station are to be preferred. The emigrants were 
Christian Protestants, who were very exact in the performance 
of religious duties, and among the first things attended to was 
the service of Gcd. 

The misfortunes of the first two years are to be attributed 
not to the colonists, but to circumstances over which they had 
little control. These were the form of government, which pro- 
duced discord and faction ; the policy of the London Company, 
which, for a present return of profit, demanded the sacrifice of 
all measures necessary to the welfare of the colony ; the place 
of settlement, which was without springs of fresh water, and 
was covered with huge trees, marshes and morasses ; the 
scanty and ill conditioned provisions received at Jamestown ; 
the absence of private property, the natural stimulus of labor; 
the severe and unceasing hardships and exposures experienced 
by the settlers ; a climate singularly fatal to new comers ; and 
the neighborhood of a numerous and ferocious body of In- 
dians, who resented bitterly the intrusion of the whites upon 
their territory. Thus the conditions were in every respect the 
reverse of those of the Plymouth settlement on Cape Cod Bay ; 
for there the Pilgrim Fathers had the control of their own 
government, the advantage of a dry and healthful situation, a 
sparkling stream of fresh water at their doors, open fields 
deserted by the Indians, whose nearest town was forty miles 
distant, a bay teeming with fish and a country abounding in 
animals whose skins brought a large profit in England. And 

[i8i] 



i82 The Cradle of the Republic. 

yet favored as they were, had they not been succored by Vir- 
ginia ships, the settlers might have all perished of famine. ^ 

As to the " Third Supply," who were afterwards stigmatized 
as a " lewd company " and " gallants packed thither by their 
friends to escape worse destinies at home," they appear from 
the broadsides issued by the company to have been chiefly 
artisans of all sorts. Probably Rev. William Croshaw stated^- 
the case fairly in a sermon which he preached in 1610 that 
" those who were sent over at the company's expense were,, 
for aught he could see, like those who were left behind, even 
of all sorts better and worse " and that " the gentlemen who 
went on their own account " were as good as the scoffers at 
home, and it may be " many degrees better." They had all 
the troubles of the early emigrants besides evils peculiarly 
their own, namely, imported pestilence and absolute w^ant of 
victuals and leadership, so that it is no wonder that they nearly 
all died in less than nine months. 

After the " Starving Time," for nine consecutive years^ 
most of the emigrants who came were laboring men, but 
they did not endure as w'ell as the gentlemen of the earlier 
times, and most of them died under the hardships of martial 
law as administered by the iron-handed Dale. Nor after the 
introduction of free institutions, in 1619, was the story of mis- 
fortune in any great degree changed. The emigration con- 
tinued for many years to be that of laboring people, but cli- 
matic diseases slew them by hundreds ; for w'e are told that 
the people on James River died like " cats and dogs " in the 
months of July and August,^ and hardly one in five survived 
even the first year of his stay.* 

When after 1642 the civil wars in England drove thousands 
of people to Virginia, two causes tended to reduce the death 
rate — the better material of the emigrants, being persons of 
genteel families, and the better health conditions in the colony 
itself, brought about by the opening of the forests. The mor- 
tality after this still fell chiefly upon the servants exposed to 

1 Bradford, Plymouth Colony, 150, 153. 

2 Brown, Genesis of the IJnftcd States, I., 364. 

3 De Vries, Voyages (New York Hist. Soc. Coll., 2d series), 2i7'^ 
^William and 'Mary Coll. Quart., VII., 66, 114. 



Social Conditions. 183 

the malaria of the tobacco fields, and especially upon the 
criminal class who were most friendless and forlorn, and this 
continued until negroes took the place of white labor. 

As the mortality among the white servants was so dreadful, 
Mr. Jefferson's estimate^ of 4,000, as the number of convicts 
and their descendants in Virginia at the time of the Revolu- 
tion, appears not far fetched. The influence of this class, form- 
ing as they did a small percentage of the servants, never 
amounted to anything as the law of Virginia forbade any con- 
vict from ever holding any position of honor or trust in the 
colony. 

About the close of the seventeenth century negro labor was 
substituted for white labor, and thus the bulk of the white 
emigration of the eighteenth century was composed of free 
citizens, the greater part being thrifty and intelligent Scotch- 
Irish people driven by persecution to Virginia. This emigra- 
tion was very large as shown by the census — the total white 
population in 1700 being about 70,000, whereas in 1776 it was 
about 296,852. In the nineteenth century a verv small per- 
centage of the immense European emigration to the United 
States came southward ; so the South missed the flood of 
paupers and criminals, against whom in the end the Federal 
Congress found itself compelled to pass stringent laws. 

The white population of A^irginia is thus the most strictly 
homogeneous American population on the continent. 

The following figures may be taken as approximately repre- 
senting the population of the colony at different times from 
1607 to 1776. The number of emigrants brought over to June 
10, 1610, inclusive of Lord Delaware's company, was about 
800. Between this time and December, 161 8, 1,000 arrived, 
making a total of 1,800 persons, and of this number 1,200 
died, leaving 600 survivors. Then in the interval between 
December, 1618, and November, 1619, 840 emigrants arrived^ 
who made with the survivors 1,440 persons, of whom 
540 died, leaving about 900 survivors. There were sent 
to Virginia between November, 1619, and February, 1625, 
4,749 emigrants, who with the 900 of November, 1619,. 
made a total of 5,649, of whom only 1,095 were living 
in Virginia February 20, 1625 ; showing a total mortality 

1 Writings of Jefferson (Randolph), I., 406. 



184 The Cradle of the Republic. 

in about eighteen years of 6,294 persons out of 7,389 
imported.^ After this time the violent fluctuations of 
the early years ceased, and there was a slow but steady in- 
crease. In 1629, the population of Virginia was about 3,000;^ 
in 1634, 5,000 r in 1649, 15,000 (of whom 500 were negroes) ;^ 
in 1654, 21,600;^ in 1665, 40,000 (of whom 2,000 were 
negroes);*^ in 1681, 70,000 or 80,000;" in 1715, 95,000 (of 
whom 23,000 were negroes) f in 1755, 295,672 (of whom 
120,156 were negroes) ;•' and in 1776, 567,614 (of whom 
270,762 were negroes ).^° 

Houses. In Jamestown the first houses were log cabins, but 
in 1614 framed houses were built two stories and a half high, 
which being of sappy timber soon decayed. Afterwards, about 
1619, seasoned timber was used, and about 1630 the first brick 
houses were erected,^^ after which the houses in Jamestown 
were chiefly of brick, two stories high, with dormer windows. 

Outside of Jamestown where rural conditions prevailed, the 
buildings pursued the same general development, but wooden 
structures always remained in the majority. About the middle 
of the seventeenth century the typical country house was a 
framed building one story and a half high, with brick chim- 
neys at either end,^- but as shown by the inventories, there 
were framed buildings in each county two stories high with 
garrets besides. The country brick houses were generally one 
and a half story like the Cocke residence at Malvern Hill, but 
there were also, as in the case of the wooden houses, some 
brick houses two and a half stories high, of which " Bacon's 
Castle " in Surry, " Ringfield " in York County, built about 
1680, and the Burwell house in Gloucester, built in 1694, have 
survived to the present day. We are told by Beverley that the 

I Brown, First Republic. 285, 329, 612. 

^Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, 1574-1660, p. 89. 

3 Ibid. 

^A Perfect Description of Virginia (Force, Tracts, II., No. viii). 

5 Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 151. 

6 Winder Papers, I., 187. 
'' Cnlpeper's Report. 

8 Chalmers, American Colonies, II., 7. 

^ Dinzviddie Papers, II., 345. 

10 Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 151. 

II The house of Sir John Harvey, afterwards called the state house, 
was certainly of brick. 

12 Hammond, Leah and Rachel (Force, Tracts, III., No. xiv, 18). 



Social Conditions. 185 

Virginians of the seventeenth century did not hke " towering 
fabrics," because of the high winds which often prevailed.^ 
Thus the "great gust" of August, 1667, blew down 15,000 
houses in Maryland and Virginia, though from notices 
in the county books the victims were chiefly tobacco barns 
and other outhouses. After the forests were cleared away, 
these violent storms became less frequent. 

During the eighteenth century the great influx of wealth 
arising from the employment of negro labor resulted in greatly 
improved architecture. The generality of the country houses 
remained the typical house of one story and a half, but they 
were much larger than their predecessors of the seventeenth 
century, and the woodwork was much superior, being hand- 
somely planed and polished. Many of the rooms were panelled 
to the ceiling, and the banisters leading upstairs were made of 
the best lumber and finely carved. Many specimens of these 
houses still survive. 

The brick houses, which were now become numerous, were 
as a rule large square buildings two stories and a half high, 
situated on the waterways at intervals of about two or three 
miles ; and some of them like Westover and Shirley had large 
brick wings in the form of a court. 

In 1 78 1, a French traveller, who visited Virginia, wrote as 
follows : "As we advance towards the South, we observe a 
sensible difference in the manners and customs of the people. 
We no longer find, as in Connecticut, houses situated along 
the road at small distances, just large enough to contain a 
single family, and the humblest furniture, nothing more than 
is barely necessary; here are spacious habitations consisting of 
different buildings, at some distance from each other, sur- 
rounded with plantations that extend beyond the reach of 
the eye, cultivated not by hands of freemen, but by those 
imhappy blacks wdiom European avarice and injustice has 
taken from their native regions of Africa to cultivate posses- 
sions not their own, on a foreign soil. The furniture here is 
constructed out of the most costly kind of wood and the 
most valuable marble, enriched by the elegant device of the 

1 Beverley, T^irginia, 235. 



i86 The Cradle of the Republic. 

artist's hand. Their riding machines are Hght and handsome 
and drawn by the fleetest coursers managed by slaves richly 
dressed." 

Roads and Vehicles} Until 1630 the settlements in Vir- 
ginia were all upon the James River or Accomac shore, and 
communication between the settlers was chiefly by boat and 
sloop. In 1630, Chiskiack and York on the York River were 
planted, and in 1632 Middle Plantation was laid out. Settle- 
ments now began to spread into the interior, as shown by the 
grants of land, and at first, of course, the communication with 
the interior was by horse-paths, or bridle-paths, generally 
following some old Indian trail, which, as the settlements ex- 
tended further inward and counties were formed, grew into 
roads. Thus the road that passes by William and Mary Col- 
lege up the Peninsula follows the Indian trail to Rockahock 
on the Pamunkey, which in the old records repeatedly comes 
up in the boundaries of patents. In 1632, the general assembly 
passed the first general law in regard to roads and ordered 
that " the Governor and Council, or commissioners for the 
courts, or parishioners of a parish, shall lay out highways, 
according as they might seem convenient." This order was 
entered, two years after the first settlement was established on 
the York. The parish churches, court-houses, ferries and 
ordinaries became the focal points for roads, and the existence 
of roads, if other proofs were wanting, would prove the exist- 
ence of carts, for which they were necessary. Carts were 
used at Jamestown before 1624. 

In 1658, the general assembly appointed surveyors of the 
roads, who were commanded to clear all the general ways 
from county to county and to church, and in 1662 the sur- 
veyors were required to keep the roads forty feet wide and 
to call out the citizens for that purpose. 

Besides carts there were some carriages and coaches intro- 
duced during the last quarter of the seventeenth century.- 
Nevertheless, it may be said that in this century travelling by 
horseback was the usual way. 

During the eighteenth century there were many coaches in. 

1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., VIII., 37-43- 

2 Sir William Berkeley had a coach in 1677. 



Social Conditions. 187 

the colony, and Hugh Jones in 1722 declared that " most 
families of any note in Williamsburg had a coach, chariot, 
Berlin or chaise." In 1753, Francis Jerdone, a merchant of 
Yorktown, wrote ^ that " second hand goods were in no ways 
saleable in Virginia. Our gentry have such proud spirits that 
nothing will go down but ecjuipments of the nicest and newest 
fashions. You'll hardly believe it when I tell you that there 
are sundry chariots now in this country which cost 200 
guineas and one that cost 260." 

As to the horses in use in the colony, Hugh Jones wrote 
in 1722: "Almost every ordinary person keeps a horse;" 
and in 1759 Burnaby declared: "The horses are fleet and 
beautiful, and the gentlemen of \'irginia, who are exceedingly 
fond of horse-racing, have spared no expense or trouble to 
improve the breed of them by exporting great numbers from 
England." Brissot de Warville said in, 1788: "The horses 
of Virginia are without contradiction the finest in the country,, 
but they have doubled the prices of those in the Northern 
States." 

Numerous laws have been passed on the subject of the 
roads during and since the colonial days, and there was never, 
in fact, any lack of roads in A'irginia at anv time, as thev inter- 
laced all parts of the country. The temptation has been to 
have too many roads, and the expense of maintaining them 
has proved too much for the scattered population of the 
country. Travelling in Virginia before the Revolution was 
very good nine months of the year, but in the winter months 
the roads, owing to the rains and ice, were generally bad. Of 
course, there were some roads that kept good all the year 
round, as for instance the roads from Yorktown to Williams- 
burg and Hampton, which a traveller in 1746 pronounced- 
better than most in England. Thus to quote a passage from 
this writer : 

"The most considerable houses (in Yorktown) are of brick,, 
some handsome ones of wood — all built in the modern taste, 
and the lesser sort of plaister. There are some very pretty 
garden spots in the town, and the avenues leading to Williams- 

1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., XL, 238. 

^Itinerant's Observations in America (London Magazine, 1746). 



i88 The Cradle of the Republic. 

burg, Norfolk, etc., are prodigously agreeable. The roads are, 
as I said before, some of the best I ever saw, and infinitely 
superior to most in England. The country surrounding is 
thickly overspread with plantations, and the planters live in 
a manner equal to men of the best fortune, some of them being 
possessed of 500 or 1,000 a year sterling." 

Table Diet. The mode of living was distinctively higher 
than in the Northern colonies. We are told of excellent 
gardens in Virginia at a very early date, and Jamestown 
Island was famous for its figs and Littletown for its peaches. 
In 1656, Hammond wrote ■} " The country is full of gallant 
orchards," and besides fruits of many kinds, " the gallant 
root of potatoes is common, and so are all sorts of roots, 
herbes and Garden Stuff." " Beef, veal, milk, butter, cheese," 
and " other made dishes," pork, bacon and pigs, oysters and 
fish were plentiful. Poor people could not fare badly under 
such conditions, and though their diet was chiefly pork, corn 
bread and vegetables, this seemed to be quite as good as the 
fare in other colonies. In New England, as late as 1725, the 
popular dinner of the lower classes consisted of salt meat 
stewed with cabbage and other vegetables served on wooden 
trenchers.^ The condition of things in Virginia during the 
last quarter of the eighteenth century is thus described by 
Beverley.^ " Hogs swarm like vermin upon the earth, and 
are often accounted such, insomuch that when an inventory 
is taken by the executors the hogs are left out and not listed 
in the appraisement." " The Virginians have," said he, 
" plenty and variety of provisions for their table." They had 
abundance of beef, pork, turkeys, capons, ducks, oysters and 
venison. Their bread was either of wheat or corn. The soil 
of New England was too cold for melons and other fruit, but 
the \'irginians had " all the culinary plants that grow in Eng- 
land, and in greater perfection than in England," besides 
" several roots, herbs, vine fruits and sallard flowers peculiar 

1 Hammond, Leah and Rachacl (Force, Tracts, III., No. xix). 

2 Weeden, Economic and Social History of Neiv England, 541. 

3 Beverley wrote his book in 1703, and it was published in 1705; and, 
therefore, his description of things may be taken to represent Virginia 
in the last quarter of the century. 



Social Conditions. 189 

to themselves." " The gentry pretend to have their victuals 
dressed and served up as nicely as if they were in London." 

Education} The benefit of schools was early recognized 
by the settlers, and one of the subjects discussed in the first 
assembly in 16 19 was the establishment of a university at 
Henrico. Friends of the colony also raised funds for a free 
school to be established at Charles City, and lands were ap- 
propriated for the purpose and servants sent over ; but an 
Indian massacre in 1622 destroyed both university and school. 
Nevertheless, the colony was not left without an educational 
system. Now as early as 1619 it was the custom of the richer 
classes to send their children to England for education, and 
afterwards the vestries of the different churches had the 
supervision of all poor children, and saw that they were taught 
reading and writing. The county courts had an annual " or- 
phan's court," Avhicli looked after the vestries, and there are 
numerous orders in the vestry books and county court records 
having in view the education of children. 

In 1635, the first free school was established, that of Benja- 
min Syms, located on a branch of the old Pocoson or Back 
River in Elizabeth county. In 1659, Thomas Eaton estab- 
lished a free school close to that of Benjamin Syms ; and a 
fund amounting to $10,000, representing these two ancient 
charities, is used to carry on the Syms-Eaton Academy in 
Hampton. In 1655, Captain John Aloon of Isle of Wight 
County left a legacy for the education of " poor fatherless 
children ;" in 1659, Captain William Whittington left 2,000 
pounds of tobacco for a free school in Northampton County ; 
in 1668, Capt. Henry King of Isle of Wight County gave 100 
acres of land for the maintenance of a free school ; in 1675, 
Henry Peasley of Gloucester County gave 600 acres together 
with ten cows and a breeding mare; in 1691, Hugh Campbell, 
for the support of persons to teach school, gave 200 acres in 
each of three counties, Norfolk, Isle of Wight and Nanse- 
mond ; and in 1700, ^^"illiam Horton endowed a free school in 
Westmoreland County. 

Beverley, who wrote in 1703, says: "There are large 
tracts of land, houses and other things granted to free schools 

1 WUUam and Man' Coll. Quart.. V., 219-223; VL, 1-7, 71-86, 171-186; 

VII., 1-9, 65-77. 



190 The Cradle of the Republic. 

for the education of children in many parts of the country, 
and some of these are so large that of themselves they are a 
handsome maintenance to a master ; but the additional allow- 
ance which gentlemen give with their sons render them a 
comfortable subsistence. These schools have been founded by 
the legacies of well inclined gentlemen, and the management 
of them hath commonly been left to the direction of the county 
court or the vestry of their respective parishes." 

After this time we learn of many such schools in the county 
records, the most interesting being Mrs. Mary Whaley's free 
school in York County established in 1706, Samuel Sanford's 
in Accomac established in 1710, and William Broadrib's in 
James City County, established about the same time. When- 
ever such schools were wanting, the citizens clubbed together 
and organized private schools, of which there were some- 
times as many as four in a parish. In 1693, the college of 
William and Mary was established, 'and most of the leading 
V^irginians were educated there. In the eighteenth century, 
there were many tutors employed by wealthy landowners, and 
many young planters attended the English universities. Jef- 
ferson wrote to Joseph C. Cabell in 1820 that "the mass of 
education in Virginia before the Revolution placed her among 
the foremost of her sister States." This is borne out by an 
examination of records published and unpublished. 

The inventories preserved in the county books in Virginia 
show that nearly every independent settler from the very 
earliest times had a few books ; and the marriage bonds prove 
that a large proportion of the population during the eighteenth 
century could read and write, a result doubtless due to the 
argus-eyed churchwardens, wdio reported to the court parents 
neglectful of their children. 

There w^ere several reasons why Virginia, despite its scat- 
tered population, was able to preserve so good an educational 
appearance in an age when the masses everywhere had limited 
opportunities. The great Puritan emigration to New England 
from 1628 to 1642 brought with it many Englishmen of the 
stamp of Winthrop and Bradford whose writings compare 
favorably with the best productions of their contemporaries in 
England. But after 1642 the emigration stopped, and New 



Social Conditions. 191 

England concentered became exceedingly narrow and isolated, 
so that native born New Englanders had little of the literary 
graces of their emigrant ancestors. The Theocracy that grew 
up cut society entirely off from the finer fields of poetry and 
art, and after Bradford and Winthrop there is no work of 
real literary excellence in New England down to the Revolu- 
tion, except the history of Thomas Hutchinson. In Virginia, 
on the other hand, contact with the better opportunities of 
the mother country was continually kept up. All ministers 
were obtained from England, and, though their morals were 
not always of the best, they were necessarily university grad- 
tiates. Then the emigration of teachers and men of cultivation 
from England was not for one generation, as in Massachusetts, 
but for many generations. 

Particularly noticeable was the great cavalier emigration in 
1649, si^cl after that there was a constant succession of emi- 
grants of wealth and leisure. The libraries of Virginia were 
superior to those of any other colony in numbers and literary 
value ; and the native literary output, if not as abundant, was 
not inferior to that of Massachusetts. Parallel with Brad- 
ford and Winthrop as writers were John Smith, Ralph Hamor, 
John Rolfe, William Strachey, and George Sandys. Then to 
be noticed are the accounts of William Bullock, Henry Nor- 
wood, John Hammond, and the numerous documents and 
letters written during the eighteenth century by men like 
Yeardley, Wyatt, Ludwell, Moryson and other officials upon 
the aft'airs of the colony. At the dawn of the eighteenth cen- 
tury appeared the " Plistory of Virginia," by Robert Beverley,^ 
a writer described- by Professor Jameson, of the Carnegie 
Institution, as " the one American historian " of his time who 
vv^as "' not mentally annexed to Europe, but retained an orig- 
inal spirit." Later were the charming " Westover Manu- 
scripts " of William Byrd, the " Present State of Virginia " 
by Rev. Hugh Jones, the " History of Virginia " by the ac- 
complished W^illiam Stith, and the poems of Goronwy Owen, 
Avhich, though written in the Welsh language, were composed 
in a frontier county of A'irginia. Finally, we may quote what 

1 Son of I\Iayor Robert Beverley, of Bacon's Rebellion. 

2 Jameson, Historical Writings in America, 62. 



192 The Cradle of the Republic. 

a traveller, J. F. D. Smythe, wrote in 1773 in regard to colonial 
Virginia : " The first class are here more respectable and 
numerous than in any other province in America. These, in 
general, have had a liberal education, possess enlightened 
understandings and a thorough knowledge of the world that 
furnishes them with an ease and freedom of manners and con- 
versation highly to their advantage in exterior, which no 
vicissitude of fortune or place can divest them of, they being 
actually, according to my ideas, the most agreeable and best 
companions, friends and neighbors that need be desired. ^The 
greater number of them keep their carriages, and have hand- 
some services of plate ; but they all, without exception, have 
studs, as well as sets of elegant and beautiful horses." 

As there was no system of vestries and churchwardens in 
New England, some general education law like that of 1646 
in Massachusetts proposing a system of common schools for 
the towns was a necessity. But this law, w'hile it showed the 
good intentions of the lawgivers, was deficient in providing 
adequate machinery. Some of the larger towns levied taxes 
for the support of schools, but more generally the parents 
had to pay the teachers, and these were hard to get. So that 
oftentimes the order of the town meetings " to set up a 
school " this year was a mere formality.^ Throughout the 
colonial period, in ^Massachusetts, teachers when obtained 
taught " but two or three months in the year," and " in most 
schools there was little progress beyond the elementary rudi- 
ments."^ Few towns of ^Massachusetts escaped fines for 
neglecting their schools, and the records of town officers, and 
accounts preserved in private families, are " miserably illit- 
erate."^ As late as 1723 Harvard College Library contained 
no volumes from Addison or his fellows, nothing of Locke, 
Dryden, Smith or Tillotson. Shakespeare and Milton had 
been acquired recently.* That there was a large class of 
very ignorant people among the fishermen and small fanners 
of New England cannot be doubted, but that the fishermen 
were as degraded, as Mr. Adams said*^ in 1776; or that only 

^ Bliss. Colonial Times on Bu::::ard's Bay. 163. 

2 Weeden, Economic and Social History of New England, 283, 861. 

■' Bliss and Weeden. 

4 Weeden, 545. 

^Jefferson's Works (Randolph's edition), I., 23. 



Social Conditions. I93 

one in ten of the men '' could read writing, and still fewer 
could write," as the Baron Riedesel declared^ in 1781, may 
well be doubted. 

The people of Eastern Virginia came in part from South- 
western England, where the English slurred their " r's," 
which accounts for this phenomenon in some parts of Vir- 
ginia. This element was found in early times, especially in 
the counties on the south of the James, and in Henrico ccfunty 
perhaps, which were practically colonies of the great south- 
western city of Bristol. Nevertheless, the bulk of the popula- 
tion, and especially the population on the north of the James, 
as far indeed as the great Potomac, were from Middle 
Eastern England, where the classic English language of 
Shakespeare prevailed. 

It must be remembered that the great company of London 
merchants first controlled the colony, and the records of the 
old counties on the north of the James conclusively show 
that these London merchants were largely represented in that 
part of Virginia. The trade of the Peninsula counties and of 
the Gloucester, Rappahannock and Northern necks was, 
during the seventeenth century, almost entirely with the great 
English metropolis. In fact, the deeds and powers of attor- 
ney show that the population was largely from London and 
the environing counties — Middlesex, Essex, etc. There is 
perhaps, despite the universal neglect and injuries of war and 
fire, more evidence of refinement in Virginia preserved by 
means of tombstones, book-plates and records of libraries^ 
than in any other of the colonies. 

Moreover, there is plenty of evidence that the speech of 
the people of Virginia had from very early days comparatively 
little of the provincial or dialectic about it. A single witness 
suffices — the able professor of mathematics in the college 
of William and Mary in 1722 — Rev. Hugh Jones, A. M. In 
his " Present State of Virginia " he says that " the planters of 
Virginia, and even the native negroes, talk good English 

1 Memoirs of the Revolution, 1., 226. 

2 Specimens of Virginia libraries have been published in William and' 
Mary Coll. Quart, and the Virginia Magazine. John Eliot had the 
most comprehensive library in New England, between 1713 and 1745, 
but Eliot's library was largely exceeded by the libraries of William Byrd, 
Richard Lee, Charles Brown, William Dunlop and others in Virginia. 

13 



194 The Cradle of the Republic. 

unfhout idiom or tone, and discourse handsomely on most 
common subjects:" that they, in fact, looked down upon all 
Englishmen who did not come from London, affecting to be 
greatly amused at the jargon of persons from Bristol, the 
smaller cities in England, the rural districts, and from 
Scotland. 

Criminal Code. Capital crimes were the common law 
offenses of rebellion, murder, arson, rape, crimes against 
nature, and house breaking, and in the first assembly selling 
fire arms to the Indians was made capital and afterwards 
horse stealing also. Persons were sent to prison, whipped 
and fined for religious opinions, but no one was ever put to 
death on that account. The same may be said of persons 
accused of witchcraft. The case of William Harding, of 
Northumberland County, who by order of the county court in 
1656 was given ten stripes and banished from the county, 
was the worst case v/hich has come under my notice.^ 

This comparative gentleness in an age when human pas- 
sions were not held in subjection, as they are now by a more 
enlightened public opinion, finds curious expression in an 
act of the assembly passed the same year. A previous act 
had provided that criminal causes concerning life or member 
should be tried in the county court, " for the benefit and 
ease of the people." But in 1656 it was commanded^ that the 
trial should take place in the quarter court, and the following 
was given as the reason: " We conceive it no ease nor benefitt 
to the people to have their lives taken away with too much 
ease. And though wee confesse the same to be done in 
England, yet wee know the disparity between them and vs to 
be so great that wee cannot with safety follow the example, for 
noe countrey (county) there but makes at least ten times the 
number of people here, and the juries there are more practised 
in criminall causes then ( than ) , by the blessing of God, wee 
are here and have more to informe them in case they should 
err. And 'tis a maxim that no deliberation can bee too much 
pondered that concenics the life of the meanest man." 

If two very respectable witnesses are to be believed, there 

1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., I., 127. 

2 Hening, Statutes at Large, I., 397. 



Social Coxditions. 



195 



were very good reasons for a mild administration of the law 
in Mrginia. John Hammond, the first of these in point of 
time, testified, in 1656, as follows ■} 

" I can confidently affirm, that since my being in England, 
which is not yet four moneths, I have been an eye witnesse of 
more deceits and villanies (and such as modesty forbids me 
to utter) than I either ever saw or heard mention made of 
in Virginia, in my one and twenty years aboad in those 
parts." 

The other witness was Alexander Spotswood who in 
October, 1710, used this language to the bishop of London:^ 
" I shall conclude with 
doing justice to this 
Country as far as my 
Discoverys have hitherto 
been able to reach, and 
declare sincerely to Yo'r 
Lord'p that I have ob- 
served here less swearing 
and Prophaneness, less 
Drunkenness, less un- 
charitable feuds and ani- 
mositys, and less Knav- 
erys and Mllanys than in 
any part of the world 
where my Lot has been." Alexander spotswood 

Manufactures and Commerce. Many attempts to institute 
manufactures on a public scale were made in Virginia, but 
rural life was not favorable to their development. For private 
consumption, however, much cloth and other things were 
manufactured on the plantations, and about the time of the 
Revolution there was quite a number of iron factories, full- 
ing mills, paper mills, and rope walks. 

Domestic commerce, in fact, was much more extensive 
than has been represented, for we are told that the rivers 
and creeks swarmed with small craft, all of which were made 
in A'irginia. As early as 1690 ships of 300 tons were built, 




1 Hammond, Lcali and Rachel (Force, Tracts, III., No. xiv). 
" Spotszuood's Letters, I., 27. 



196 The Cr.\dle of the Republic. 

and afterward trade to the West Indies was conducted in 
small sloops of \^irginia make.^ There are still many places 
on the rivers and creeks known as " Shipyards,'' and in 1693 
Hon. Thomas Mathews presented to the county which bears 
his name (lying on Chesapeake Bay), a seal emblematic of 
'* the mechanic inhabitants of the county of Mathews who 
have been in the habit of shipbuilding. "- 

Distinctions in Society. The application of both official 
and conventional titles was a matter of careful observance in 
all the English colonies. Only a small number of persons of 
the best condition had the designation of " Mr." or " Mrs." 
prefixed to their names, and this respect was always shown in 
Virginia to ministers, lawyers, justices of the peace, and 
vestrymen. " Goodman " and " Goodwife " were the appro- 
priate addresses of persons above the condition of servitude 
and below that of gentility. In Virginia the term " Gentle- 
man " was applied to men of large landed estates, and 
" Esquire " was strictly confined to members of the council 
and the sons of knights, of whom there were very few in 
the colony. " Clerk " was a term descriptive not only of 
clerks of courts, but of ministers of the Gospel. 

These remarks apply for the most part to the 17th century, 
for during the i8th century when negro slaves were sub- 
stituted for white servants, race became a badge of aristocracy, 
and all free white men were addressed as "Mr;" and the 
poorer the white man the more he insisted on his independence 
and equality before the law. Thus, in 1790, Marquis de 
Chastellux wrote that " a Virginian never resembles a 
European peasant," and, in 1842, Henry A. Wise explained^ 
that " wherever black slavery existed, there w^as found at 
least (political) equality among the white population." 

1 Mair, Bookkeeping Modernised, 495. 

2 J 'a. Magazine, III., 313. 

3 Congressional Globe, 1841-1842. p. 173. 



XIII. 

POLITICAL CONDITIONS. 

Divisions. The settlers of Virginia were mostly city people, 
and they naturally expected society to develop as in England ; 
and, therefore, the political units were in the beginning settle- 
ments along James River called cities, boroughs, towns and 
hundreds. In 1619, these scattered settlements were gathered 
into four large corporations with a capital city in each. 

I. The corporation of Elizabeth City (capital, Elizabeth 
City), extending from the bay up the river, on the south side, 
to about Chuckatuck Creek, and on the north side, to above 
Newport News. 

II. The corporation of James City (capital, Jamestown), 
extending on the south side, from about Nansemond River to 
Upper Chippokes Creek, and on the north side, from Newport 
News to the Chickahominy River. 

III. The corporation of Charles City (capital, Charles 
City, at* the present City Point), extending, on the south side, 
from Upper Chippokes Creek to the beginning of the pale run 
by Dale, between the Appomattox and James rivers, so as to 
include Bermuda Hundred and Jones' Neck, and on the north 
side to Farrar's Island. 

IV. The corporation of Henrico (capital, Henrico, on Far- 
rar's Island), extending from Charles City corporation to the 
Falls. 

Each corporation contained one or more boroughs, and each 
borough was represented by two burgesses in the general 
assembly, for the first time called in 1619. 

This system of corporations did not continue long, because 
the wealth of water-courses and the cultivation of tobacco pro- 
voked separation and isolation, and society became very soon 
distinctly agricultural and rural. As a consequence, after 
fifteen years, borough representation was abandoned, and the 
whole colony was divided into eight counties or shires. All 
but two of these — Accomac on the Eastern Shore, over the 

[197] 



198 The Cradle of the Republic. 

bay, and Charles River County, subsequently York, on York 
River — were situated on James River, as follows : 

I. Elizabeth City County, extending on both sides of Hamp- 
ton Roads — on the south side to Chuckatuck Creek, and 
on the north side to Newport News, and including a small part 
thereof. 

II. Warrascoyack County, subsequently, in 1637, Isle of 
Wight county, extending, on the south side, from Chuckatuck 
Creek to Lawne's Creek. 

III. Warwick County, extending, on the north side, from 
Elizabeth City county to Skiffes (Keith's) Creek. 

lY. James City County, extending on both sides of the 
river — on the south side from Lawne's Creek to Upper Chip- 
pokes Creek, and on the north side from Skiffes Creek to 
above Sandy Point. 

V. Charles City County, extending on both sides of the 
river — on the south side from Upper Chippokes Creek to 
Appomattox River, and on the north side from Sandy Point 
to Turkey Island Creek. 

YI. Plenrico County, extending from Charles City County 
indefinitely westward. 

In 1637, the part of Elizabeth City County lying on the 
south side of Hampton roads was made into New Norfolk 
County, which immediately after was divided into Lower Nor- 
folk County and Tapper Norfolk County (called in 1645-46 
Nansemond county). In 1691, Lower Norfolk County was 
divided into Princess Anne and Norfolk counties. 

In 1652, the south part of James City County was formed 
into Surry county. In 1702, the south part of Charles City 
County was formed into Prince George County. In 1720, the 
Chickahominy was made the boundary of James City and 
Charles City counties. In 1748, the southern part of Henrico 
was formed into Chesterfield County. 

Government. The government under the first charter 
(1606) was that of a supreme council in England appointed 
by the king and a subordinate council in Yirginia ; and neither 
the London Company nor the settlers had any political author- 
ity. Lender the second charter (1609) the government was 
centered in England in a treasurer and council, who selected 



Political Conditions. 199 

a governor for Virginia having authority independent of the 
local council. The third charter (1612) vested the authority 
in England in the company, but the government in Virginia 
remained unchanged until 16 19, when a popular assembly was 
called to share with the London Company in legislation. 

In 1624, the London Company was abolished, and the gov- 
ernment of the colony was vested in a governor and council, 
appointed by the king, and a general assembly composed of 
the governor and council and a house of burgesses elected 
by the people. The latter body gradually assumed the chief 
power, and for many years the governor and council acted 
a secondary part. The council, which was made up of the 
richest men in the colony, held three political relations : first 
they formed an advisory board, of which the governor was 
the executive; secondly, they formed a supreme court (styled 
originally the quarter court and afterwards the general 
court), of which the governor was chief justice; and thirdly, 
they acted as a senate, of which the governor was president; 
but they seldom originated legislation, and contented them.- 
selves for the most with revising the action of the house of 
burgesses. The governor's power was more in theory than 
in practice, for he seldom acted outside of the council meet- 
irigs, where in all cases the majority controlled. 

Suffrage} Rural life, while it hindered co-operation, pro- 
moted a spirit of independence among the whites of all classes 
which counteracted the aristocratic form of government. Suf- 
frage was looked upon not as a privilege, as in New England, 
but as a right, and down to 1670 every one above the condition 
of a servant voted for members of the house of burgesses. 
In that year suffrage was apparently limited to householders 
and freeholders, but as the law did not define the ireehold, 
manhood suffrage remained practically the constitution of 
Virginia till 1736, when the first real restriction on the sufifrage 
Avas made. Nevertheless, even after that time the proportion 
of voters in Mrginia. as shown by Professor Jameson, was 
greater than in Massachusetts. To the influence of country 
life, which promoted the independence of the citizens, was 
added that of negro slavery, which made race and not wealth 

^William and Mary Coll. Quart., VI., 7-13; VII., 71-73; VIII., 81. , 



200 The Cradle of the Republic, 

the great distinction in society. In colonial Virginia there was, 
it is true, an aristocratic class who monopolized the offices, but 
their authority was a mere veneering on the social life, and 
went to pieces at the first shock of the Revolution.^ 

In New England, where there were annual elections, the 
government was in form more democratic than in Virginia, 
but in substance it was more aristocratic." There was a very 
limited suffrage in the different towns, and the peculiar forms 
of election made almost permanent the tenure of the office 
holders. This was but natural, for it is the common experi- 
ence of every one who has watched the proceedings of popular 
assemblies that the power is certain to be exercised by a few 
smart managers. The ultimate consequences of society in 
Virginia and New England was seen after the Revolution, 
when for the first time the different communities had the 
opportunity of directing without foreign restraint the govern- 
ment of their country. Virginia became the headquarters of 
the Democratic Republican party of popular ideas, and New 
England that of the Federalist party — the party of aristo- 
cratic ideas. 



1 Edmund Randolph, who was one of the F. F. Vs., referred to the 
influence of the aristocracy as " Little and feeble, and incapable of dar- 
ing to assert any privilege clashing with the rights of the people at 
large." — Henry, Patrick Hcnrv. I., 209. 

2 Weeden, in his Social and Economic History of Nezv England, says 
that the New England institutions were " democratic in form but aristo- 
cratic in the substance of the administration." 



J 



= <^ 



Vr 




Work i 



, pocosdn>\: 





XIV. 

JAMES RIVER. 

(Named after King James I.) 
Origin and History of Places Along James River. 

The distance of Point Comfort to Richmond by the river 
is about no miles. The distance from Cape Henry to Rich- 
mond is about 127 miles. 

South Side. 

Cape Henry. Named in honor of Henry, Prince of Wales, 
son of James I. The cape opposite, separated by fifteen miles 
of water, is called Cape Charles, in honor of Prince Charles, 
another son, afterwards King- Charles I. At Cape Henry, on 
April 26, 1607, the first settlers made their first landing. Three 
days later they set up a cross. In 1727, the establishment of 
a lighthouse was mooted in the general assembly of Virginia, 
but the first law in relation to it was not passed till 1752. Lit- 
tle or nothing was done under this law, and in 1772 the gen- 
eral assembly passed another act in conjunction with Mary- 
land. In 1773, some rock and other material were brought to 
Cape Henry, but the American Revolution caused another de- 
lay. In 1789, Virginia ceded two acres at Cape Henry to the 
United States for a lighthouse, and not long after the struc- 
ture, so many years in contemplation, was actually erected. 

Chesapeake Bay. After passing the capes the visitor beholds 
the wide expanse of the bay of Chesapeake, which is an 
Indian name. The bay is 186 miles long, having an average 
width of twenty miles, and is a grand basin running parallel 
to the coast, which receives the waters of the James, York, 
Happahannock, Potomac, Patuxent, Patapsco, Gunpowder, 
Susquehannah, Nanticoke, Choptank and several other rivers 
of Virginia and Maryland. Perhaps no bay in the world has 
such diversified scenery. The numerous rivers divide what is 
called Tide-water Virginia and Tide-water Maryland into long 
and narrow peninsulas, which are themselves furrowed by 
deep creeks, making numerous necks or minor peninsulas of 
land. Up these rivers and creeks the tide ebbs and flows for 
many miles. 

[201] 



202 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Lynnhaven Bay. It appears on Smith's map as Alorton's 
Bay, because here Matthew Morton and Captain Gabriel 
Archer were wounded by the Indians. Present name derived 
from the town of Lynn in England. It is at present famous 
for its oysters, said to be the finest in the world. 

Hampton Roads. At Willoughby Point Chesapeake Bay 
connects with another bay called Hampton roads, into which 
discharge the waters of Elizabeth, Nansemond, James and 
v" Hampton rivers. This bay, which is one of the finest harbors 
in the world, receives its name from Henry Wriothesley, Earl 
of Southampton, treasurer of the London Company from 
1620 to 1625, Hampton being a contraction for Southampton. 
Few men have a nobler memorial. 

IVilloiigJiby Point. Named from Thomas Willoughby, a 
member of the Council from 1-644 to 1650, who belonged to 
the family of Lord Willoughby, governor of Barbadoes. 
Mason's Creek, which empties into Willoughby Bay, ob- 
_\ tains its name from Captain Francis Mason,, one of the lead- 
ing settlers, who died about 1648. 

SezveU's Point. From Henry Seawell, a burgess for Lower 

Norfolk county in 1639, 
now represented in Vir- 
ginia by the descendants of 
his daughter Anne, who 
married Colonel Lemuel 
Mason. Sewell's Point is 
made by Elizabeth River 
and Tanriers Creek, which 
receives its name from 
Daniel Tanner, of Canter- 
bury, England, who died 
on the creek in 1653, leav- 
ing a son John. 

Elisabeth River. Named 
for Princess Elizabeth, 
PRINCESS ELIZABETH. daughter of King James I., 

and afterward queen of Bohemia. Upon this river are situ- 
ated the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. Norfolk was 
begun in 1680, when fifty acres for a town was condemned by 
the o-eneral assemblv " on Nicholas Wise his land on 




James River — South Side. 203 

the eastern branch of Elizabeth River at the entrance of the 
Branch." In 1705, it was given the name of Norfolk, and in 
1736 granted a borough charter. During the Revolution it 
was burned, and its trade suffered very much by the results. 
It has a fine harbor and a population of 60,000. 

Portsmouth is situated on the left bank of the Elizabeth 
River, immediately opposite to Norfolk, and was established 
in 1752 on the land of William Crawford; and is the seat 
of a U. S. naval hospital and navy yard. The Elizabeth 
River has three branches — Eastern, Southern and Western, 
and upon the Southern branch, twelve miles from Norfolk, 
occurred on December 9, 1775, the battle of Great Bridge, in 
vhich the A'irginians under Col. William Woodford defeated 
the troops of Lord Dunmore, the royal governor. 

Craney Island. This place, which, during the War of 1812, 
was fortified as a protection to Norfolk, received its name, at 
a very remote date, from an early resident of Norfolk county. 
Admiral Cockburn, with the British fleet, attacked it and was 
repulsed. In 1862, the Confederate iron-clad steamer Virginia, 
or Merrimac, was blown up in the waters nearby. 

Nansemond River. From the Indians of that name, who 
had several towns upon it. Bennett's Creek, which derives its 
name from Governor Richard Bennett, who resided upon it, 
cuts off (Col. Thomas) Dew's point, Avhere in 1680 the general 
assembly designated a town. The town did not materialize, 
and, in 1742, the general assembly established, about thirteen 
miles above " Old Town," the town of Suffolk, eighteen miles 
southwest of Norfolk. Suffolk is near the Dismal Swamp, 
which lies partly in Virginia and partly in North Carolina, and 
extends from north to south nearly thirty miles, and east and 
west about ten. In the interior is a beautiful lake called " Lake 
Drummond," which has been celebrated by Tom [Moore, the 
poet of Ireland, in verses telling of the wanderings of a young 
man in search of his lady love : 

But oft from the Indian hunter's camp 
This lover and maid so true. 
Are seen at the hour of midnight damp, 
To cross the lake by a firefly lamp, 
And paddle their white canoe. 1 

1 Howe, Historical Collections of Virginia, 403. 



204 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Clnickatuck Creek. About seven miles up the creek, on the 
road from Suffolk to Smithfield, is the village of Chuckatuck, 
an Indian name. 

Nasezvay Shoals. From " Lt. Col. Tristam Norsworthy, of 
ye Ragged Islands in Virginia, Gent.," living in 1656. His 
name was originally pronounced " Nosory." 

Pagan River. From " Pagan Point." probably so called 
because of the Indian village Mokete, on the south side ; origin- 
ally Warrascoyack and afterwards New Town Haven River, 
and still later Pagan River. In 1680, a town was established 
on the left bank of the river about two miles from the mouth 
at " Pates field," not far from the site of the old Indian village 
of Warrascoyack. The spot is still known as " Old Town," and 
about four miles higher up the river is Smithfield, established 
in 1752 on the land of Arthur Smith. Within an hour's ride 
from Smithfield is an old church called St. Luke's, which, after 
having been deserted for a long time, has been lately rehabili- 
tated and adorned with stained glass windows and memorial 
tablets. On the west side of Pagan River near its mouth was 
a tract of 300 acres patented by Captain Nathaniel Basse and 
others November 21, 1621. Here settlers were landed, but the 
low marshy country was very unhealthy to them, and many 
died. In 1622, the Indians killed twenty persons at Basse's 
Choice. Peter Knight patented it in 1640, and sold it to John 
Bland, who sold it to Thomas Taberer, who devised it in 1692 
to his grandson, Joseph Copeland, of Isle of Wight county. 

Day's Point. At the western point of Pagan River Bay, 
named from Captain James Day, formerly of London, who 
has left numerous descendants in Virginia. 

Bennett's Plantation, or Warrascoyack. It was situated at 
the Rock Wharf on the present Burwell's Bay. Patented 
November 21, 1621, by Edward Bennett, a rich London mer- 
chant, in partnership with his brother, Robert Bennett, and 
nephew, Richard Bennett, governor of Virginia in 1652, and 
others. Edward Bennett's daughter, Silvestra, married Major 
Nicholas Hill, of Isle of Wight county. Another daughter, 
Mary, married Thomas Bland, whose daughter Mary married 
Captain James Day, of Day's Point. This early plantation 
became absorbed in the estate of Major Lewis Burwell. 



James River — South Side. 205 

Biirzvell's Bay. Named for Major Lewis Burwell (died 
1710), who married Abigail Smith, niece of Colonel Nathaniel 
Bacon, Sr.. and acquired, partly through his wife, a large ] 
estate in this quarter. Here Robert Burwell, his son, lived in ' 
a brick house two stories high, sixty feet long by twenty-six 
feet wide. Robert's only son, Nathaniel, was clerk of Isle of 
Wight from 1772 to 1787, and his daughter, Lucy, married. 
Governor John Page, of Rosewell in Gloucester county, a 
patriot of the American Revolution. 

Lazi'iie's Plantation. In Isle of Wight county, patented by 
Captain Christopher Lawne and his associates. Captain Lawne " 
arrived in Virginia April 17, 1619, and located his plantation 
near the mouth of Lawne's Creek (sometimes called " Lion's 
Creek"), which afterwards was made the dividing line be- 
tween the counties of Surry and Isle of Wight. It was repre- 
sented in the first general assembly by Captain Lawne and' 
Ensign Washer. 

Hog Island. It obtained its name as early as 1608 from 
being used by the colonists as a place for the safekeeping of 
hogs. Represented in the general assembly, 1624, by John 
Chew and John Utie, prominent colonists. John Bailey, who 
first settled at Berkeley Hundred in 1620, patented 600 acr^s 
here. He died before 1624, and his only daughter and heii^, 
Mary Bailey, marrying Randall Holt, the island came into the 
Holt family, and continued their property for nearly 200 years. 
Of late years it was very much improved by Mr. E. E. Barney, 
and named " Homewood." 

Loiver Chippokcs Creek. An Indian name. Enters James 
River on the west of Hog Island. Near by is an old brick house 
known as Bacon's Castle, erected about 1655 by Arthur Allen, 
ancestor of the late William Allen, of Clermont. It is prob- 
ably the oldest brick house now standing in Virginia. During 
Bacon's Rebellion, it was fortified by Captain William Rookins, 
Robert Burgess, and other friends of Bacon.^ 

College Creek. On this creek there was a very old plantation 
known as the College plantation. How the name originated is 
not known, for it is not believed that any college was ever 
contemplated here. In August, 1667, " the great gust," or 

1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., V., 189. 



2o6 The Cradle of the Republic. 

storm, which destroyed 15,000 houses in Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, blew down at College Creek " three sixty-foot wall-plate 
tobacco houses," and one " fifty-foot rafted house." The two 
dwelling-houses, one " thirty foot " and the other " twenty 
foot " and a quarter " fifteen foot " withstood the fury of the 
storm. They had been erected by Anthony Stanford, merchant 
of London, and belonged at the time to Francis Newton, of 
Surry.^ 

Crouch's Creek. This creek, named for Lieutenant Richard 
Crouch, living in 1625, is situated nearly opposite to James- 
town Island, about five miles above Lower Chippokes Creek. 
Li this quarter, in 1625, the poet George Sandys, then treasurer 
•of the colony, had a settlement protected by a large stockade 
mounting one piece of ordnance. Among his other property 
were " a house framed for silkworms, a garden of an acre, and 
a vineyard of two acres." The total number of houses in this 
region in 1625 was eighteen dwellings, five stores, four tobacco 
houses, one stone house (the only one in the colony), and one 
silk house. - 

Cobhaui. This place was established in 1772. at the mouth 
of Gray's Creek, but is now nearly deserted. It is a little west 
of " Scotland M^harf," the terminus of the Surry, Sussex and 
Southampton Railroad. 

Gray's Creek. First called Rolfe's Creek, after Thomas 
Rolfe, son of Pocahontas, who had a plantation of 150 acres 
upon it " the gift of the Indian Kinge." In 1654, he sold the 
property to William Corker describing it as lying between 
" Smith's Fort old feild and the Divills woodyard swampe." 
" Smith's Fort " was two miles up the creek, on a bluff, and 
was probably the fort erected in 1608 to provide a refuge for 
the people at Jamestown in case of need.-^ In 1680, Smith's 
Fort was made by the general assembly the site of^a town for 
Surry county. The creek gets its present name from 
Thomas Gra}-, who patented lands upon it in 1639, and is an- 
cestor of numerous people in Virginia and other parts of the 
Union. 

Szvann's Point. From Colonel Thomas Swann, of the 

1 William and Mary Coll. Quart., V., 190. 

2 Brown, First Republic, 623. 

3 William and Mary Coll. Quart., V., 190. 



James River — South Side. 207 

council of Sir William Berkeley (1676), son of William 
Swann, an early settler. His son, Samuel, speaker of the 
North Carolina assembly, married Sarah, daughter of 
Colonel William Drummond, hanged for supporting Nathaniel 
Bacon, Jr., in 1676. Colonel Swann's tombstone with his coat- 
of-arms upon it was still to be seen a few years ago in a 
neighboring field. Here, in 1677. the commissioners sent over 
by the king to enquire into the causes of Bacon's Rebellion 
held court. This commission consisted of Colonel Herbert 
JefTreys, Sir John Berry and Colonel Francis Moryson. 

Four Mile Tree. This name preserves the memory of a 
tree on the south side of James River, wdiich marked, in 1619, 
the western extremity on James River of the corporation of 
James City as defined by Governor Argall.^ Here, in 1624, 
John Burrows patented 150 acres and called the place 
" Burrows' Hill." The place afterwards passed to one John 
Smith, whose executors sold the land, under the name of 
"Smith's Mount," to Col. Henry Browne, one of Sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley's council, who in 1643 obtained a patent for 
2,000 acres, including Pace's Pains. '' Four Mile Tree plan- 
tation '" remained in the Browne family for 200 years, and the 
handsome manor house is still standing. There is in the 
graveyard near the house the tombstone of Alice Jordan, 
daughter of John Miles of Branton, Herefordshire, and wife 
of Col. George Jordan, attorney general of Virginia in 1670. 
The tombstone states that Mrs. Jordan died January 7, 1650 
(1651). There is only one older tombstone in Virginia — 
that of Col. William Perry at Westover, who formerly lived 
at Pace's Pains, and died in 1637. But the inscription on 
this tombstone is now entirely worn away. 

Pace's Pains. Adjoining Burrows Hill was Pace's Pains, 
an estate of 600 acres planted by Richard Pace, Francis Chap- 
man and Thomas Gates. In the massacre of 1622, Richard 
Pace saved Jamestown and many of the colonists. A con- 
verted Christian Indian. Chanco, who stayed with him, 
revealed the plot ; and Pace, after securing his house, rowed 
off to Jamestown in the early morning and informed the 
governor. His wddow, Isabella, married, secondly. Captain 

1 Brown, First Republic, 287. 



^ 



2o8 The Cradle of the Republic. 

William Perry, of the council. His son and heir was George 
Pace, who married Sarah, daughter of Captain Samuel May- 
cock, of the council, killed by the Indians in the massacre. 
George Pace moved to Captain Maycock's plantation, near 
Powell's Creek, in Prince George county, where his son 
Richard was living in 1659. 

Wakefield. This was the residence of Nathaniel Harrison 
(1677-1727), and is distant about four miles from Upper 
Chippokes Creek. 

Sunken Marsh. This is a very old name in the records, 
being found in the land books as early as 1642. In 1678, 
" Sunken Marsh Plantation " was one of the numerous 
plantations of the London merchant, John Bland, whose 
brother, Theodorick, was the founder of the prominent Vir- 
ginia family of that name. It was situated opposite to Danc- 
ing Point on the other side of the river. 

Clermont, and Upper Chippokes Creek. The Indian town 
of Quiyoughcohanock was near this creek, opposite to Pas- 
pahegh town on the other side. At a very early date Mr. 
Arthur Allen patented lands here on the east side of the creek, 
and his descendant Major William Allen, at the time of the 
war (i86i-'65), owned 12,500 acres stretching along the 
river side. His brick residence " Clermont," pronounced 
" Claremont," is still standing, and gives its name to a town 
at the terminus of the James River Division of the Atlantic 
and Danville Railway. 

Brandon. There are two Brandons in Virginia — Brandon 
on the Rappahannock, formerly the home of the Grymes 
family, and Brandon on the James, which last, as rich in soil 
as in memories, was patented in 1617 by Captain John Martin, 
one of the first council for Virginia, and the only man who 
protested against the abandonment of Jamestown in 1610, 
after the " Starving Time." In 1619, he sent to the first 
general assembly as burgesses from Brandon Mr. Thomas 
Davis and Mr. Robert Stacy, but that body would not allow 
them to sit, unless Martin would relinquish certain high 
privileges, which his patent conferred. Martin, then the only 
member of the original council living in Virginia, declined, 
and said : " I hold my patent for my service don, which noe 



2IO The Cradle of the Republic. 

newe or late comers can meritt or challenge." Martin's grant 
read: "He was to enjoye his landes in as large and ample 
manner to all intentes and purposes as any Lord of any 
Manours ih England doth hold his grounde." He was after- 
wards fortunately induced to surrender this high authority. 

Martin was son of Sir Richard Martin, and brother-in-law 
of Sir Julius Ctesar. His daughter, Dorcas, married Captain 
George Bargrave, son of Robert Bargrave, of Bridge in Kent. 
George Bargrave came to Virginia and was largely inter- 
ested, with his brother, John Bargrave, in the trade of the 
colony. A Captain Robert Bargrave, as stated in a land grant 
in 1637, sold Martin's Brandon to Symon Sturgis, John Sadler 
and Richard Quiney, of London, merchants. In 1643, as 
stated in another grant, the general assembly confirmed to 
William Barker, John Sadler and Richard Quiney 4,550 acres 
known as " Martin's Brandon, between Chippokes Creek and 
Ward's Creek, due them by purchase from the heire of Cap- 
tain John Martin, dece'd." So this Captain Robert Bargrave 
was doubtless a grandson of Captain John Martin. Brandon 
and Merchant's Hope, or Powell Brook, became the joint 
property of Richard Quiney and his brother-in-law, John 
Sadler. 

The Ouineys were from Stratford-on-Avon. Thomas 
Quiney married Judith, the daughter of William Shakespeare. 
Richard Quiney 's wife, Ellen Sadler, daughter of John Sadler, 
was aunt of Anne Sadler, the wife of John Harvard, founder 
of Llarvard College. Richard Quiney 's moiety in Brandon, as 
well as in Powell Brook, descended to his son Thomas, who 
in his will left the same to his great-nephew Robert Richard- 
son, and he in 1720 conveyed the same to Nathaniel Harrison, 
to whom the other moiety doubtless had not long before 
passed from the Sadie rs. 

The plantation has remained in the Harrison family ever 
since. It is divided into two estates — Lower and Upper 
Brandon. The house at Lower Brandon contains a collectior 
of portraits of eminent persons, formerly the property of 
William Byrd, of Westover. 

Ward's Creek. Captain John Ward came to Virginia in April, 
161 9, and was actively employed for several years with his 



James River — South Side. 211 

ship in procuring fish and suppHes for the colony. His patent 
seems to have called for 1,200 acres on the river side, and the 
land east of the creek which bears his name appears to have 
been included in a grant to Rice Hooe in ^lay, 1638. Ward's 
plantation was represented in the first General Assemblv by 
Captain John Ward and Lieutenant John Gibbs. 
^ Floiver deiv Hundred. In 1618, Sir George Yeardley 
obtained a grant of 1,000 acres on the west side of a creek 
opposite to Weyanoke and called both creek and plantation 
" Flower dew Hundred." In 1619, the plantation was repre- 
sented in the first general assembi_; by his nephew, Edward 
Rossingham and by John Jefl:"erson, the ancestor of Thomas 
Jefferson. Sir George sold " Flower dew Hundred " before 
1624 to Captain Abraham Peirsey, one of the leading mer- 
chants of A'irginia. In that year there were on Peirsey's 
land (which included Windmill Point) twelve dwellings, 
three storehouses, four tobacco houses, and one windmill. 
Peirsey, who married Frances W^est, widow of Nathaniel 
AVest and daughter of Sir Thomas Hinton, died in 1627. 
After his death his widow married, thirdly. Col. Samuel 
Mathews, and his daughter Elizabeth married, first, Captain 
Richard Stephens and, second, Sir John Harvey, governor, 
and his daughter I\Iary married, first. Captain Thomas Hill 
and, secondly, Thomas Bushrod. Captain Richard Stephens' 
son, Captain Samuel Stephens, was the first husband of Lady 
Frances (Culpeper) Berkeley, wife of Sir William Berkeley, 
After Peirsey's purchase " Flower dew Hundred " was called 
" Peirsey's Hundred," but in 1635 Mrs. Elizabeth Stephens 
patented it as " Flower deue Hundred." Shortly afterwards, 
she sold it to William Barker, mariner. 

At the close of the century, it was owned by Captain John 
Taylor, of Prince George county, who devised it to his 
daughters, Henrietta Maria and Sarah, who married respect- 
ively John and Francis Hardiman. They sold it to Joseph 
Poythress, and about the close of the century it became the 
property of John V. AA^illcox, whose descendants still own it. 

JVindinill Point. This in the early records is known as 
Tobacco Point, but it took its present name " Windmill Point " 
from a windmill established there, in 1621, by Sir George 
Yeardlev, the first in the United States. 



212 The Cradle of the Republic. 

The Indians appear to have called the point Weyanoke 
Point. 

Maycock's Plantation. This place is situated east of 
Powell's Creek, and was patented by Captain Samuel May- 
cock, who came to Virginia about 1618. He was made by 
Sir George Yeardley a member of his council, and continued 
as such under Sir Francis Wyatt till he was killed in the 
Indian massacre of 1622, when five others of the council 
perished. Among the killed at Captain Maycock's plantation 
of 200 acres adjoining Flower dew Hundred was Edward 
Lister, who came over in the Mayflozver to Plymouth, Mass., 
and was a signer of the " Compact." After Captain Maycock's 
death, his daughter Sarah married George Pace of " Pace's 
Paines," whose father, Richard Pace, had saved Jamestown 
in 1622. There is a deed in the Charles City County records, 
by which " Richard Pace, of Powell's Creek, son and heir- 
apparent of George Pace, son and heire as the first issue by my 
mother j\Irs. Sarah Macocke, wife unto my aforesaid father, 
both dcced," confirms a sale of 800 or 900 acres " lying near 
vmto Peirce's Himdred als Flower due Hundred " to Mr. 
Thomas Drew as per bill of his father, October 12, 1650. In 
1723, John Hamlin sold " Maycock's," containing 250 acres, 
purchased of Roger Drayton in 1696, to Thomas Ravenscroft, 
of Wilmington Parish, James City County. In 1774, David 
Meade of Nansemond purchased 600 acres, including May- 
cock's. The land was poor except twelve acres about the house, 
but the situation was not inferior to any on the river. Meade 
Avas one of the earliest devotees of horticulture in the United 
States, and he arranged his twelve acres of fruitful ground in 
a way to produce the most charming and enchanting effect. 
" Forest and fruit trees are here arranged as if nature and art 
had conspired together to strike the eye most agreeably. 
Beautiful vistas which open many pleasing views of the river; 
the land thrown into many artificial hollows or gentle swell- 
ings, wdth the pleasing verdure of the turf, and the complete 
order with which the whole is preserved, altogether tend to 
form it one of the most delightful rural seats that is to be 
met with in the United States."^ 

1 Mass. Hist. Society Collections. III., 90. 



James River — South Side. 213 

Powell's Creek. At the head of this creek on Flower dew 
Hundred Plantation was situated Weyanoke Indian Town. 
On the river was the plantation of Captain Nathaniel Powell, 
a valiant soldier, who came to Virginia among the first 
emigrants, and acted as governor on the departure of 
Samuel Argall in 1619. He married a daughter of Master 
William Tracy, but he and his wife and ten others were slain 
in the massacre March 22, 1622. His place of 600 acres lay 
on the west of Powell's Creek. Thomas Powell, of Powell- 
ton, Suffolk county, England, yeoman, his brother and heir, 
sold the estate to John Taylor, " citizen and girdler," of 
London, who in turn disposed of it to William Barker, mari- 
ner, Richard Quiney and John Sadler, merchants of London ; 
and they in 1638 patented it (with 1,250 acres additional) as 
" Merchant's Hope, formerly known as Powle Brook." It 
finally passed to Nathaniel Harrison in 1720. 

Near by there is still standing a very old brick church, 
known as Merchant's Hope Church. The courthouse of 
Prince George was first seated near the church on Chappell's 
Creek. 

Chappell's Creek. Named for Thomas Chappell, who came 
to the colony in the ship of Captain William Barker in 1635. 
He has numerous representatives in the South. 

Bickers Creek. Named for William Bicker, or Bykar, 
killed in the massacre of 1622. 

Chaplin's Choice. This place was first patented in 1619 
by Captain Isaac Chaplin who represented it in the House of 
Burgesses. It lay east of Captain Woodlief's land, near 
Jordan's, and in 1686, Captain Nicholas Wyatt patented it 
anew, describing it as in area 361 acres, and as lying on James 
River between Parson's and Bicker's creeks. He states that 
it was for a long time in the possession of his late father, 
Captain Anthony Wyatt. By the burning of his father's house 
and that of the secretary at Jamestown, the original patent 
to Chaplin's had been lost. 

Captain John Woodlief's Plantation. He was a member of 
the London Company, and came first to Virginia in 1609 from 
Prestwood in Buckinghamshire. When Berkeley, Thorpe, 
Tracey, Smith, and other Gloucestershire men, formed a com- 



214 The Cradle of the Republic. 

pany^ he was empowered in 1619 to be governor of their new 
plantation at Berkeley Hundred." He afterwards settled on the 
south of the James, and left numerous descendants. 

Jordan's Jorney, or Beggars BitsJi. Captain Samuel Jor- 
dan, in 16 1 9, patented at Jordan's Point on James River 
450 acres, bounded by Captain Woodlief's land. At the 
time of the massacre in 1622, Captain Jordan gathered 
together his neighbors " at Beggar's Bush where he fortified 
and lived in despight of the enemy."' He died the next year, 
when his widow Cecilly was courted by Captain William Far- 
rar, after the minister Rev. Greville Pooley had received, as he 
alleged, a promise of marriage. The affair was brought before 
the council, who thought it of such ill consequence that they 
issued a proclamation prohibiting women in the future from 
contracting themselves in marriage to " two several men at the 
same time." 

At Jordan's Jorney in 1676 the volunteers of Charles City 
County (Prince George County) had their encampment, pre- 
vious to pressing Bacon into service to lead them against the 
Indians. 

In 1677, the place had become the property of John Bland, 
of London, merchant; and nearly a hundred years later, was 
the residence of Richard Bland, " the antiquary," the first per- 
son to show in a formal pamphlet that America had no con- 
nection with England except the tie of the crown. 

Bailey's Creek. From Temperance Bailey, who in 1626 had 
two hundred acres there. " ' 

City Point. This name is a contraction for Charles City 
Point, a public settlement begun by Sir Thomas Dale about 
Christmas, 161 3. It was first known as Bermuda City, but the 
name was soon changed to Charles City in honor of Prince 
Charles, afterwards King Charles I, In March, 1617, the three 
years' time of service of the incorporators of Bermuda City 
expired, and they being freed, " with humble thanks to God, 
fell cheerfully to their own particular labors." 

Here it was, in 1621. that the company proposed to erect the 
East India School, which was to be a feeder to the college at 
Henrico. 



James River — South Side. 215 

The place is spoken of in the records of Prince George 
county in 1720 as " City Point," /. c, " Charles City Point." 
On April 24, 1781, the British force landed here under General 
Phillips and captured Petersburg. 

In the war of 1861-65 it was an important military depot for 
the army of General Grant, who had his headquarters here. At 
City Point is the residence of the Eppes family, called " Appo- 
mattox," which has been in the Eppes family since it was first 
patented by Colonel Francis Eppes in 1635. President Lincoln 
was here on a visit to General Grant when Richmond was evac- 
uated. It is connected with Petersburg by a railroad. 

Appomattox River. Up the Appomattox is a number of 
fine old plantations : Cazvsons, formerly a seat of the Blands, 
and the birthplace of John Randolph ; Conjurer's Neck, the seat 
of the Kennon family ; Broadzvay, named for Alexander Broad- 
way, an early settler ; and Matoax, a mile from Petersburg, 
which was the residence of John Randolph, father of John Ran- 
dolph, of Roanoke. At the Falls of the Appomattox is Peters- 
burg, founded in 1733 by Peter Jones, a descendant of Col. 
Abraham Wood, an early patentee for land in the neighbor- 
hood. 

Bermuda Hundred. This place lies in Chesterfield countv, 
near the mouth of the Appomattox, across from City Point. It 
was laid out by Sir Thomas Dale at the same time as Bermuda 
City, or Charles City. He named the place Bermuda Hundred 
" by reason of the strength of the situation," which likened it 
to those coral girt islands, the Bermudas. He annexed to it 
many miles of "' champion and wood land in several hundreds, 
as Rochedale Hundred (afterwards known as the Neck of 
Land in Charles City, and now as Jones' Neck), the Upper 
and Nether Hundreds (Curls Neck and Bermuda), West's 
Sherley Hundred (Shirley) and Digges' Hundred." 

In the first general assembly the plantations of Bermuda 
Hundred, Sherly Hundred and Charles City were represented 
by Samuel Sharpe and Samuel Jordan. 

On May 2, 1781, the British forces under Generals Phillips 
and Arnold, returning from their attack on Petersburg, em- 
barked at Bermuda Hundred. 



2i6 The Cradle of the Republic. 

For many years previous to the war, before the upper portion 
of the river was deepened, this was an important shipping 
point, and was the port of Richmond for large vessels. 

In 1864, General Butler, with a force of thirty thousand men, 
was, in the language of General Grant, " bottled up " here by 
the Confederates, and just outside of this peninsula may still 
be seen many heavy outworks thrown up by him. Bermuda 
Hundred is now the terminus of the Farmville and Powhatan 
Railroad. 

Neck of Land, or Rochedale Hundred. This place is now 
known as Jones' Neck, and was a part of Dale's settlement in 
161 3. It was first called Rochedale Hundred and afterwards 
" Neck of Land in Charles City " to distinguish it from " Neck 
of Land " in James City County. A creek on the western side 
still retains the name of Rochedale Creek. 

On the west side of Jones' Neck is " Meadowville," the 
handsome estate of Mrs. Edward E. Barney, originally called 
" Woodson's," being the original seating place of Robert 
Woodson, the first emigrant ancestor of the Woodson family 
of Virginia. 

Gatesz'iUe and Osborne's. In 1720, the name of Dale Parish 
was given very appropriately to that part of Henrico County 
on the south side of the river, the scene especially of Dale's 
labors. 

The glebe of Dale Parish (one hundred acres) was opposite 
to the present Farrar's Island, and, in 1761, an act was passed 
authorizing the division of this land into lots for a town to be 
called Gatesville (in honor of Sir Thomas Gates, who was Sir 
Thomas Dale's superior officer). In April, 1781, the British 
forces captured and destroyed here about twenty-five vessels 
loaded with tobacco, flour, etc. On April 27, 1781, after a hot 
action with the British, the vessels of the small Virginia navy 
then in James River were captured and destroyed about four 
miles above Gatesville. After this, the little town of Gatesville, 
ceased to be mentioned, and the wharf near by is now known as 
Osborne's. For a number of years this was the shipping point 
for coal from the Clover Hill mines, in Chesterfield County. 

Co.vendale. This is the bend west of the bend called Far- 
rar's Island across the river. When Sir Thomas Dale set to 



James River — South Side. 217 

work in 1611 to build his city at Henrico, he ran a pale across 
this neck and secured it by several forts : Charity Fort, Eliza- 
beth Fort and Fort Patience. He also built a retreat or guest 
house for sick people, called Mount Malado — which appears 
on Fry and Jefferson's map (1751) under the spelling of " Mt. 
Malawdy." In Coxendale Alexander Whitaker, son of the 
■celebrated Dr. William Whitaker, a Puritan divine, had his 
parsonage. 

Proctors Creek. This creek gets its name from " IMistrisse 
(Alice) Proctor a proper ciuill modest gentlewoman," who, in 
1622, defended her plantation here against the savages with 
great bravery. She afterwards refused to obey the order of 
the council to abandon her house^ and would not retire till the 
officers had threatened to burn it down. She was the wife of 
John Proctor, an early settler. 

Sheffield's Plantation. Three miles from Falling Creek. 
Thomas Sheffield, the first proprietor, was slain here by the 
Indians in 1622. About 1770, the place was the residence of 
Seth Ward and his family. 

Drewry's Bluff. The Confederates had here strong fortifi- 
cations during the war of 1861-1865, which were the means of 
inflicting a severse repulse, in 1862, upon the Federal fleet, in- 
cluding the iron clad Monitor. 

Falling Creek. This creek was the site of the first iron 
works in America. In 1619, Sir Edwin Sandys informed the 
London Company of one Mr. King, who was to go with fifty 
persons to Virginia and set up iron works there, and the 
same year 150 expert workmen, chiefly from War- 
wickshire and Staffordshire, were sent over. The works cos{ 
the company four thousand pounds, the equivalent of one hun- 
dred thousand dollars in present money, and were first under 
the charge of Captain Bluett ; but, he dying shortly after his 
arrival, the care of the iron industry was committed to John 
Berkeley, son of Sir John Berkeley, of the castle and manor of 
Beverston, in Gloucestershire, an eminent branch of the noble 
family of the Berkeleys of Berkeley Castle. The iron was 
made from bog ore found in the vicinity, and it was reported 
that "no better iron existed in the world." Unfortunately, in 
1622, the works were broken up by the Indians, who killed 



2i8 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Berkeley, and all his employees, except a boy and a girl, who 
managed to hide in the bushes. Colonel Archibald Cary owned 
mills upon the creek at the time of the Revolution, which were 
destroyed by Tarleton ; and a mill still exists near a picturesque 
little fall. 

Ampthill. This was the estate of Colonel Archibald Cary, 
chairman of the committee of the Virginia Convention which 
drafted, in 1776, the Declaration of Rights and State Constitu- 
tion — the first in America. The house, a fine square brick 
building, is still standing. 

li'arwick. The chimney standing on the right bank of the 
liver near Ampthill marks the old site of the village of War- 
wick, established in the twenty-second year of the reign of 
George II. While the bar in the river above remained, it was 
a place of much importance. At the time of the Revolution 
there were here mills, warehouses, storehouses, rope-walks and 
a ship-building yard, which were all destroyed by the British 
in 1 78 1. Chastellux, who was here in 1782, describes it, never- 
theless, as a charming spot, " where a group of handsome 
houses form a sort of village, and there are several superb ones 
in the neighborhood, among others that of Colonel Cary, on 
the right bank of the river, and Mr. Randolph's on the opposite 
shore." 

Goode's Creek. Named from John Goode, who was a sup- 
porter of Bacon in 1676. The name of his place is " Whitby," 
through which the creek runs. 



NORTH SIDE. 

The Falls, and Richmond. After the landing at Jamestown 
Island, May 14, 1607, President Wingfield, in accordance with 
instructions from the London Company, sent a body of men in a 
shallop to discover the part of the river above them. They left 
Jamestown May 21, 1607, under Captain Newport, and six 
days later arrived at an Indian town called Powhatan, consist- 
ing of some twelve houses pleasantly situated on a hill. Below 
it were three fertile islands, and it was separated from the river 
by a meadow of 200 acres, in which were planted Indian com,, 
tobacco, pumpkins, gourds and other vegetables. The town 



James River — North Side. 219 

was distant three miles from the Falls^ and the description of 
the place corresponds with either the present " Marin Hill," 
or " Tree Hill " plantation. It was the native country of Pow- 
hatan, but the chief here, in 1607, was Parahunt, a son of Pow- 
hatan, called Tanxpowhatan (Little Powhatan). 

After the arrival of the Third Supply in August, 1609, Cap- 
tain John Smith, in the absence of Sir Thomas Gates, the new 
governor, sent Captain Francis West with one hundred men to 
form a settlement at the Falls. West purchased a site from the 
Indians in a low place subject to overflow, now known as 
Rocketts, and called his settlement Fort W^est. After a time 
Captain John Smith came up the river, and finding West 
absent ordered the settlers to move to the hill on which the 
Indian town was situated, which he purchased from the 
Indians, and called " Nonsuch." After a while West returned, 
and not liking Smith's interference ordered the company back 
to their original settlement. But here they were attacked by 
the Indians, and the colonists returned to Jamestown. 

After the second massacre, in 1644, a fort was built near this 
place. It was rebuilt in 1676, but was soon abandoned. 

Finally Captain William Byrd became possessed of much of 
the land in this vicinity ; and his son. Colonel William Byrd, 
had at the Falls several mills. In 1742, Richmond, having been 
surveyed by Col. William Mayo, was established as a town on 
land belonging to Colonel Byrd. A mile from Richmond is a 
place called Powhatan, long the home of the Mayos, who came 
from Barbadoes to Virginia. 

GiUee's Creek. Named for Gilleygrow Marin, living in 1769. 

Tree Hill. Formerly the residence of Colonel Miles Selden 
(died May 18, 181 1), and for a long time celebrated for its 
race-track. 

Chatszi'orth. This was formerly the seat of Colonel Peter 
Randolph (son of Colonel William Randolph, Jr.), member of 
the council and surveyor-general of the customs (died 1767). 
The last male of this immediate branch was Air. William B. 
Randolph, who died since the war. This was the birthplace of 
Beverley Randolph, governor of Virginia ; of Colonel Robert 
Randolph, of Eastern Viezv, Fauquier County, Va., ancestor of 
the present Bishop Randolph, of Virginia ; and of Mrs. Fitz- 



220 The Cradle of the Republic. 

hugh, of " Chatham," grandmother of Airs. General Robert E. 
Lee. 

Wilton. Colonel William Randolph, son of Colonel William 
Randolph, of Turkey Island, built the present brick mansion 
early in the eighteenth century. It stands nearly opposite to 
Falling Creek, on the opposite side of the river. The best 
known of his descendants who lived here was Innes Randolph, 
the poet, and Anne Randolph, who married Colonel Benjamin 
Harrison, of Brandon, a member of the first State executive 
council (1776). She was a noted belle of the period just 
prior to the Revolution, and was referred to as Nancy Wilton. 

ChafRn's Bluff. Fortified by the Confederates in 1861-65. 
Next below is " Newstead," location of the Confederate signal 
station. 

Farrar's Island, and Dutch Gap. In June, 161 1, Sir Thomas 
Dale went up James River to search for a new site for the chief 
town, the London Company having become dissatisfied with 
Jamestown. The privy council had already named the pro- 
posed site, " Henrico," in honor of Henry, oldest son of King 
James I. In September, 161 1, with permission from Sir 
Thomas Gates, who had in the meantime arrived as governor, 
Dale went up to Henrico, and began the settlement on the 
peninsula (now an island), known afterwards as Farrar's 
Island, after William Farrar, who patented it. He cut a ditch 
across the neck (Dale's Dutch Gap), such as he had learned 
to make while campaigning in Holland, and strongly faced it 
with palisades. There were in the town three streets of framed 
houses, and a church of timber. The foundations of the houses 
were of brick made on the spot by the brickmakers brought by 
Gates from England. For the town's security, there were five 
block houses upon the verge of the river. In the main, two 
miles from the town, they ran a pale from river to river two 
miles long and, on the other side of the river, they impaled the 
bend west of Henrico called Coxendale. Henrico was distant 
from Bermuda Hundred by water fourteen miles, but by land 
only five miles. 

In the first general assembly Henrico and Coxendale, 
together with Arrohateck just above Henrico, was represented 
by John Dowse and John Polentine. But the place did not 



James River — North Side. 221 

flourish, and it was reported as containing in 1619 only " two 
or three old houses, a poore ruinated church, with some few 
poor buildings." 

At Henrico it was proposed in 1619 to build a college, and 
ten thousand acres of land were appropriated to the purpose. 
The first rector was to be the Rev. Patrick Copland, while 
George Thorpe was made superintendent of the buildings and 
plantation. The Indians, in 1622, put a stop to the project by 
almost wiping the place out of existence, and Virginia waited 
many years for a college. Finally, in 1693, Dr. James Blair, 
who was minister of this same parish from 1685 to 1694, 
inspired doubtless by the earlv memories of the place, consum- 
mated the original design, though the general assembly chose 
Williamsburg, many miles distant from Henrico, as the seat of 
the college. 

In this locality the river makes great loops, and to avoid the 
Confederate battery at the extreme end of Farrar's Island, 
called Hewlett's house battery, General Butler attempted, in 
1864, to deepen Dale's old ditch or gap, so as to admit a pass- 
age from the rear to the river above. The work, however, 
owing to the Confederate sharp-shooters, was not completed 
at this time, but in 1871-72 the United States government 
deepened it to its present practicable condition, and thus re- 
duced the distance to Richmond by seven miles. 

J^ariiia. A little more than a mile below the Dutch Gap 
Canal is J^ariiia, so named, it is said, because of the superior 
character of the tobacco raised in the neighborhood, which 
resembled a high-price Spanish tobacco called Varina. This 
was long the county-seat of Henrico, and here, it is said, 
resided, after their marriage, John Rolfe and Pocahontas. At 
Varina was also the glebe of Henrico Parish, where resided 
James Blair, who founded William and Mary College, and 
William Stith, another of its presidents, who wrote the History 
of J'irginia. Some forty years ago the sites of the glebe, court- 
house, jail and tavern were pointed out. Under the name cf 
Aiken's Landing. Varina was well known during the war of 
1861-65 ^s a place of exchange of prisoners. 

Four Mile Creek. Opposite to the point of " The Neck of 
Land." or Jones' Neck. It receives its name from its distance 
— four miles — from Henrico (Farrar's Island). 



222 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Ciirls Neck. This place obtains its name from the surprising 
'' curls " which the river makes in this locality. To go six 
miles from Farrar's Island to City Point, the river takes a 
course of sixteen miles. Curls Neck was at first divided into 
a number of small farms, which gradually became consolidated. 
Chief among the inhabitants here in 1676 was the famous 
Nathaniel Bacon. Jr. In 1698, William Randolph of Turkey 
Island patented two certain tracts of land in the county of 
Henrico — one tract called " Curies, formerly Longfield," the 
other called the " Slashes," containing together twelve hundred 
and thirty acres, " late in the seizin and iiilieritanee of Nathaniel 
Bacon, Jim., Esq., dcce'd, and fonnd to escheat to his most 
sacred Majesty by the attainder of tJie said NatJianiel Bacon, 
Junr.^ of high treason." William Randolph purchased the land 
for one hundred and fifty pounds. " Longfield," originally 
containing 400 acres, was first patented by Edward Gurgany 
October i, 161 7. and was bequeathed, in 1619, by his widow, 
Ann Gurgany, to Captain Thomas Harris, who patented it with 
300 acres additional in July, 1637. 

William Randolph, of Turkey Island, became the owner of a 
large part of the Neck, and he left it to his son, Richard Ran- 
dolph, grandfather of John Randolph of Roanoke. In later 
years the estate, containing 3,000 acres, became one of the 
numerous plantations of Major William Allen, of Clermont. 
The present owner is Charles H. Senff, Esq. 

Brenio, and Malvern Hill. Bremo was patented by Colonel 
Richard Cocke in 1639, and continued the residence of the 
Cockes for nearly 200 years. Near by, just back of Turkey 
Island, is another estate of the Cockes, called " Malvern Hill," 
after some hills in England of that name, which divide the 
counties of Hereford and Worcester. The old dwelling house 
at Malvern Hill is still standing, and is described as " one of 
the best specimens of colonial architecture." It was here that 
one of the most sanguinary conflicts of the war took place in 
1862 between the armies of General George B. McClellan and 
General R. E. Lee. 

Turkey Island. A short distance below Bremo is Turkey 
Island Plantation, so called because the first explorers up the 
river found in the neighborhood an island having many turkeys 



James River — North Side. 



223 




upon it. But the description seems more applicable to the 
peninsula opposite, called Presque Isle, or Turkey Island Bend. 
In 1676, Turkey Island 
was owned, in part at 
least, by Colonel James 
Crews, one of Bacon's 
most loyal friends, who 
was hanged at the glass 
house near Jamestown by 
Sir William Berkeley. In 
1684, his heirs — wSarah 
Whittingham, wife of 
William Whittingham, of 
London, Gent., a n d 
daughter of his brother 
Edward Crews, and Mat- 
thew Crews, " citizen and 
haberdasher of London," 

. SIR JOHN RANDOLPH. 

son or his brother rrancis 

Crews — sold the land (600 acres) to William Randolph, " late 
of Warwickshire in England," a half-nephew of the poet 

Thomas Randolph and 
founder of the eminent 
Virginia family of Ran- 
dolphs. 

William Randolph mar- 
ried Mary Isham, daugh- 
ter of Henry Isham, of 
Bermuda Hundred, and 
granddaughter of William 
Isham, of Xorthampton- 
shire, in England. He 
had issue, nine children : 
(i) \A'illiam. of Turkey 
Island; (2) Thomas, of 
Tuckahoe, in Goochland 
LADY SUSANNA RANDOLPH. Couuty ; (3) Isham, of 

Dungeness, in Goochland; (4) Sir John, of Williamsburg, an 
eminent lawyer; (5) Colonel Richard, of Curls Neck; (6) 




224 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



Elizabeth, who married Richard Bland, of Jordan's; (7) Mary^ 
who married John Stith, and was mother of William Stith,. 
president of William and Mary College; (8) Edward, a sea 
captain; (9) Henry, who died, unmarried, in England. Will- 
iam Randolph was the common ancestor of Thomas Jefiferson, 
John Marshall, Robert E. Lee and Edmund Randolph. The 
old dwelling-house at Turkey Island was destroyed by the gun- 
boats of General McClellan, when he took refuge here with his. 
army after " the Seven Days' Battles." At one time during the 
late war the estate was owned in part by General George E. 

Pickett. 

Shirley. This place 
was first occupied in 161 3, 
when Sir Thomas Dale 
established B e r m u d a 
Hundred. It was called 
originally West-and-Sher- 
ley-Hundred. It was origi- 
nally the property of 
Thomas West, Lord Dela- 
ware, and his three 
brothers. Captain Francis 
West, Captain Nathaniel 
West, and Captain John 
West, who all resided in 
ROBERT CARTER. Virginia. Thomas West, 

Lord Delaware, married Cecilly, daughter of Sir Thomas. 
Sherley. In 1664, 2.544 acres at Shirley Hundred were pat- 
ented by Major Edward Hill, Sr., a man of great prominence 
in the colony. The land was inherited by his son Colonel 
Edward Hill, Jr., who left a son. Colonel Edward Hill,, 
and two daughters, Hannah, who married Edward Chil- 
ton, the attorney-general, but died without issue, and 
Elizabeth, who married John Carter, secretary of state, 
and son of Robert (King) Carter. Colonel Edward Hill, third 
of the name, died in 1720 without children, and Shirley 
descended to his sister Elizabeth Carter, and has since re- 
mained in the Carter family. This was the birthplace 
of Anne Hill Carter, wife of " Light Horse " Harry Lee, and 
mother of General Robert E. Lee. The plantation is one of the 




James River — North Side. 225 

i^nest in Virginia, and the buildings, which were erected about 
the beginning of the eighteenth century, are elegant examples 
of colonial architecture. Among the portraits at Shirley is an 
excellent one of Washington by Peale. 

Cawsey's Care. Nathaniel Causey was an old soldier, who 
came in the First Supply in January, 1608, and patented 200 
acres, called " Cawsey's Care," on Kimage's Creek December 
10, 1620. John Causey sold this land in 1634 to Colonel Wal- 
ter Aston, son of Walter Aston, of Longden, Stafford County, 
England. The latter patented, August 12, 1642, 1,040 acres on 
Kimage's Creek, of which Cawsey's Care was part. Colonel 
Aston left a son, Walter, who, in 1666, devised the estate to 
Mr. George Harris, of Westover, merchant. He died without 
issue, and Cawsey's Care fell to his brother, Thomas Harris, of 
London, merchant. This last sold the estate to Colonel Thomas 
Grendon, Jr., who by his will, proved December 3, 1684, 
devised the same to William Byrd, Jr., son of William Byrd, 
whereupon it became absorbed in the Byrd estate.^ Sarah 
Crendon, the wife of Colonel Thomas Grendon, Jr., was one of 
the heroines of Bacon's Rebellion, being the only woman ex- 
cepted from pardon in the act of " indemnitie and free par- 
don," passed in 1677. 

Berkeley. On February 3, 1619, the London Company 
granted to Sir William Throckmorton, Sir George Yeardley, 
Richard Berkeley, George Thorpe and John Smith, of Nibley, 
a plantation in Mrginia, W'hich became known as Berkeley 
Hundred. On December 4, 1619, The Margaret arrived from 
Bristol at Jamestown, bringing thirty-five passengers, under 
the conduct of Captain John Woodlief. These were the first 
settlers of the " Town and Hundred of Berkeley," which was 
located between West-and- Sherley's rlundred and Westover. 
William Tracy, to whom Sir William Throckmorton assigned 
his interests, and George Thorpe came over in pe;rson and suc- 
ceeded Captain Woodlief in the management of the settlement.- 
In 1 62 1, Rev. Robert Pawlett. a kinsman of Lord Pawlett, was 
preacher at Berkeley Hundred. But in the massacre of 1622 
nine persons were killed there, and the plantation was tempor- 

1 William and Mary Coll. Quart.. IV., 148. 

2 John Smith of Nibley, Papers in Bulletins of New York Public 
Library, 1899. 

It; 



James River — North Side. 227 

arily abandoned. In 1636, the plantation was patented anew by 
Captain William Tucker, Maurice Thompson, George Thomp- 
son, William Harris, Thomas Deacon and Cornelius Loyd, of 
London, merchants, and Jeremiah Blackburn, of London, 
mariner, who had purchased it from the " adventurers of the 
company of Berkeley Hundred." It was described as consist- 
ing of 8.000 acres, bounded east by the land (Westover) of 
Captain Thomas Pawlett (brother of Lord Pawlett), and on 
the west by King's Creek, and extending back into the woods. 
After some years their interests passed to John Bland, of Lon- 
don, merchant, whose only son, Giles, resided here till his exe- 
cution in 1676 for complicity with Bacon. After this the estate 
went to Benjamin Harrison, the third of that name, who died 
April 10, 1710. It descended then to Col. Benjamin Harrison, 
speaker of the House of Burgesses, who died in 1744, and at 
the time of the Revolution was owned by his son, Benjamin 
Harrison, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, and father of William Henry Harrison, presi- 
dent of the United States, born at Berkeley, February 9, 1773. 

Berkeley is better known to Northern soldiers and people as 
Harrison's Landing, headc|uarters of General McClellan after 
his retreat from Malvern Hill. At that time there were no less 
than 600 war vessels and transports anchored in the river near 
by, and the river shore for miles was covered with the camps 
of soldiers. 

The handsome brick house of the Harrisons is still standing. 

Westover. During the summer of 16 19, Captain Francis 
West selected the site of Westover for the lands of Henry 
West, fourth Lord Delaware, son and heir of his brother, 
Thomas West, third Lord Delaware, governor of Virginia. 
The three brothers of Lord Delaware (who all acted as goy- 
ernors of Virginia), had separate plantations here — Captain 
Francis West, Captain John and Captain Nathaniel West. 
Only Captain John West is known to have left descendants in 
Virginia. His son. Colonel John W^est, of West Point, was 
the first child of English parents born on York River. 

In 1622, six persons fell beneath the tomahawk at Westover. 
In February, 1633, the representative for Westover and Flower 
dew Hundred was Captain Thomas Pawlett, who, in January, 
1637, patented 2,000 acres of the plantation called Westover. 



228 



The Ciladle of the Republic. 



Pawlett was brother of the first Lord Pawlett, and was born 
about 1578, and came to Virginia in 1618. He appeared in th~e 
first American assembly at Jamestown as a representative 
from " Argall's Gift." 

Pawlett's grant describes the place as " 2,000 acres in 
Charles City County, bounding to the river south, northward to 
the main, eastward to the land of Captain Perry, west upon 
Berkeley Hundred land, extending by the river side from 
Herring Creek to a gut dividing Westover from Berkeley." 

Captain Thomas Paw- 
lett died in 1644, and his 
brother Lord John Paw- 
lett, in 1666, sold West- 
over to Theodorick Bland, 
brother of John Bland, 
merchant, of London. 

Theodorick Bland died 
in 1674, when the West- 
over tract went to his sons 
Theodorick and Richard 
Bland. In 1688, they 
conveyed 1,200 acres to 
William Byrd, Esq., son 
of John Byrd, goldsmith, 
of London, for three 
hundred pounds English 
money, and 10,000 pounds 
of tobacco. 
Captain Byrd took part with Bacon during the civil war in 
1676. He was living at that time near Richmond, and was 
Bacon's neighbor. At Westover, in 1690, he built a wooden 
residence, and died there in 170 1. 

He was succeeded by his son. Colonel William Byrd, who 
was by long odds the most accomplished man in America — 
statesman, scholar and fellow of the Royal Society. He built 
the present noble brick mansion at Westover, and gathered 
about him the finest library on the continent. He wrote several 
very entertaining tracts upon Virginia, which have no equal in 
colonial literature for grace of style and composition. 




WILLIAM BYRD, OF WESTOVER. 

Fellow of the Ro^'al Society. 



James River — North Side. 229 

Buckland. This settlement adjoined Westover and contained 
the plantation of Captain George Menifie, of the council (who 
in 1635 took a prominent part in deposing Harvey), and of 
Captain William Perry (died August 6, 1637), who married 
Isabella, widow of Richard Pace, of Pace's Pains. Captain 
Plenry Perry, son of Captain William Perry, married the 
daughter of Captain George Menifie, and became possessed of 
the whole of Buckland. Captain Perry left two daughters — 
Elizabeth, who married John Coggs. of Rainslipp, ]\Iiddlesex 
County, England, and Mary, who married Thomas Mercer, a 
stationer of London. 

In 1766, Buckland, containing 10,000 acres, was the property 
of Colonel William Cole. 

This place, or a part of it. is now owned by the Willcox 
family, of Charles City County. 

Szi'iiicyards. This place probably gets its name from Thomas 
Swinhow, whose wife and sons, together with four other per- 
sons, were slain in the massacre of 1622. The name of the 
place appears variously as '* Swinhows,"" " Swiniares," 
^ Swineherds," " Swineyards." It was owned in 1769 by Col- 
onel William Cole, who also owned Buckland at that time. 

Weyanokc. This place was called by the Indians " Tanks 
Weyanoke " (Little Weyanoke), to distinguish it from the ter- 
ritory from Appomattox River down to Powell's Creek on the 
south side of James River, which was called " Great Weya- 
noke." In 1617, Opechancanough presented to Yeardley a large 
tract of land at Weyanoke, and, in 161 9, the London Company 
confirmed the gift. In their deed they described it as contain- 
ing "' twenty-two hundred acres, all that piece of marsh ground 
called Weyanoke, and also one other piece and parcell of land 
adjoining to the said marsh, called by the natives Kenwan, 
one parcel thereof abutteth upon a creek called ]\Iapsock to 
the east, and the other parcell thereof towards a creek, there 
called Queen's Creek, on the west, and extendeth in breadth to 
landward from the head of said creek called Mapsock up to 
the head of said creek called Queen's Creek (which creek, 
called Queen's Creek, is opposite to the point there which is 
now called Tobacco Point, and abutteth south upon the river 
and north to the landward)." 



230 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



About 1624, Sir George Yeardley sold Weyanoke and 
Flower dew Hundred, on the opposite side of James River, to 
Captain Abraham Peirsey. In 1665, Joseph Harwood located 
a grant in Weyanoke, and the place descended for many years 
in the Harwood family. Major Samuel Harwood was a dis- 
tinguished member of the convention of 1776. The land 
descended, in part at least, to his descendants, the Douthats, • 
who still reside there. ^ 

Southampton Hundred. This land ran from " Tanks Weya- 
noke " to Chickahominy River, and contained about 80,000 
acres. It was located in 161 7 by a pow- 
erful association in England, of whom 
Sir Thomas Smith was the head. The 
hundred was at first known as " Smith's 
Hundred," but when Sir Edwin Sandys 
became treasurer of the London Com- 
pany Smith sold his shares, and the 
name in 161 9 Avas changed to South- 
ampton Hundred, in honor of the Earl 
of Southampton, who was a member. 
The organization was a strong one, 
owning ships, etc., and had an interest 
in Hog Island as well. Sir George 
Yeardley was for many years captain 
or commander of the hundred. 
COMMUNION CUP OF It was represented in the first general 

SMITH'S HUNDRED assembly by Captain Thomas Graves ,Q 
(The oldest church plate j j i 

in America.) and Air. Walter Shelley. 

Mrs. ]\Iary Robinson gave £200 sterling and a silver gilt 

communion cup and other ornaments for " St. Mary's Church 

in Smith's Hundred in Virginia," which were brought to the 

colony in 161 9. The cup is still preserved by the church at 

1 The descent seems to run thus : Josephl Harwood, living in 1665, 
had issue Samuel,^ who married Temperance Cocke, dau. of Capt. 
Thomas Cocke, Sr., of Henrico, and had issue: Sainuel,3 whose will 
was proved in Charles City Co., in 1745, by his widow Agnes. Samuel^ 
and Agnes Harwood had issue : Samuel,* member of the State Con- 
vention, 1776. who married Margaret Woddrop, daughter of John 
Woddrop, of Nansemond, and had Anne,^ who married Thomas Lewis, 
Agnes,^ who married Fielding Lewis, son of Col. Warner Lewis, of 
"Warner Hall," in Gloucester Countv, and Eleanor Bowles, his wife; 
and Margaret^ who married Robert Munford. Fielding Lewis' daugh- 
ter, Eleanor, married Robert Douthat, Esquire. 




James River — North Side. 231 

Hampton, and bears the hall-mark 1617, with the inscription 
above mentioned. This plate is by long odds ilic oldest church 
plate in the United States. After tlie massacre of 1622 South- 
ampton Hundred was abandoned, and in 1635 ^'""e associators 
in this company complained that they had spent upwards of 
i6,ooo in planting settlements, and had nothing left but a 
stock of cattle in the hands of Captain John Utie. About 1637, 
the governor began to grant out the territory in parcels to new 
applicants; and ?kIilton, Sherwood Forest, Sturgeon Point, 
Bachelor's Point, the Row, and Sandy Point — all lie in what 
was once Southampton Hundred. 

Milton. This place, it is believed, was named after Richard 
Alilton, who patented lands in Charles City County as early 
as 1636. 

Shcrzvood Forest. This place reaches the river opposite to 
Brandon, and was the property in 1842 of Collier Minge, who 
sold the same to John Tyler, president of the United States. 
His residence still stands about two miles back from the river, 
and three miles further, near Charles City court house, is his 
birthplace, " Greenway," the former residence of his father, 
Governor John Tyler, Sr. 

Sturgeon Point. This place appears to obtain its name from 
the sturgeons which were caught in great numbers in the river 
here. 

Bachelor's Point. PIcrc resided the family of William Hunt, 
a sympathizer with Bacon, and who died in 1676. His tomb- 
stone lies on the hill. 

Sandy Point. This place is nearly opposite to Clermont, and 
is one of the most fertile tracts of land on the north side of 
the river. Here at the time of the arrival of the colonists was 
seated the Indian town of " Paspahegh." About 1700, it be- 
came the plantation of Colonel Philip Lightfoot, of the council 
of Virginia, grandson of Richard Lightfoot, rector of Stoke- 
Bruern, in Northampt'on.-^hire, England. It remained many 
vears in the Lightfoot family. The house is said to have been 
built in the j^ear 1717, and is called " Tedington," the name 
of a place near London. 

Dancing Point. There is a waggish story that this point, 
which is at the mouth of the Chickahominy River, got its name 



2j2 The Cradle of the Republic. 

from a dancing match had here between the devil and Mr, 
Lightfoot. who Hved at Sandy Point, the stake being some 
marsh land. ]\Ir. Lightfoot outdanced the devil, and won the 
land. ' But about 1637, many years before the Lightfoots set- 
tled at Sandy Point, this point was patented by John Dance, 
and on Fry and Jefferson's map of Virginia the point is called 
Dance's Point, which was readily corrupted into Dancing 
Point. 

Chickahoiuiny River. This river is famed in the early his- 
tory as the seat of a numerous tribe of Indians who preserved 
a qnasi-indc pcndencc of Powhatan. At the head of this river, 
perhaps in New Kent county, John Smith was captured in 
1607. During the war between the States, its extensive swamps 
and morasses played an important part in determining military 
results. 

Governor's Land. In 1619, 3,000 acres were laid out as the 
Governor's Land, extending from the Chickahominy to James- 
town, on the land '' formerly conquered or purchased of the 
Paspahegh Indians." It was tilled at first by employees of the 
London Company for the support of the governor's office. 
After the revocation of the charter in 1624, the land was leased 
on terms of ninety-nine years to individuals, with a nominal 
rent. This system was kept up till after the Revolution, when 
the legislature, in May, 1784, vested " the lands near James- 
town, in the county of James City, and all the lots and houses 
in Williamsburg, which are the property of the commonwealth, 
and not yet granted " in the college of William and Mary. 

Ar gall's Gift or Town. This place was located in 161 7 about 
a mile from Jamestown towards Chickahominy. Captain Ar- 
gall contracted with some of the Martin's Hundred people to 
cut down the wood on 300 acres for f6oo, and with Captain 
William Powell to clear the ground and put up houses for £50. 
In July, 1619, they were represented in the first house of bur- 
gesses by Captain Thomas Pawlett and J\Ir. Gurgany. But 
inasmuch as this tract was embraced in the district of 3,000 
acres appointed by the company for the Governor's Land, the 
people petitioned the Assembly for relief from payment to 
Captain Argall. Their petition was granted, and the place 
appears to have been abandoned. 





's^''ii^MWu.i:.sAis-jLs-^ j«-vii"-.-' 



: -, -£<?S. '•>-«■' 




.^^^aHmSU<i*XJA,&^^iiA1^»^JS■J^i~e7r■ 



234 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Jamestoivn. Distant about sixty-eight miles from Richmond. 
Of this place I have already written at length. 

Neck of Land. This was the country between Back River 
and Powhatan Creek, north of Jamestown Island. There were 
living here in 1624 sixteen persons, of whom Richard Kings- 
mill was the most prominent. It was represented in the gen- 
eral assembly in 1629 by Richard Brewster, and in 1632 by 
Lieutenant Thomas Crumpe. who, it is believed, married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Richard Buck. 

Archer's Hope. The country between the mouth of Back 
River and Archer's Hope Creek was divided into three parts — 
the glebe land, Arclier's Hope proper, and Fowler's Neck. 
In 1619, William Spence and John Fowler patented 500 acres 
called Archer's Hope, bounded on the west by the glebe land, 
and on the east by Fowler's Neck. Archer's Hope was as- 
signed by Thomas and Sarah Brice to Roger Webster, and it 
was confirmed, in 1646, by grant to his three daughters, Lucy, 
Judith and Jane Webster. In the massacre of 1622 the Indians 
killed here, at Ensign William Spence's house, five persons, 
including William Fairfax, an ancient planter. The following 
order, entered by the general court of the colony, is preserved : 

A Court at James Citty the 17th of September 1627 p^'sent Sir George 
Yeardley, knt, Governor, Dr. Pott, Capt. Smyth and Mr. Secretary : 
Divers examinacons being taken and had concerning the unquiett hfe 
-vycb ye people of Archers Hope lead through the scoldinges raleings and 
falhngs out w*'' Amy the wife of Christopher Hall and other abominable 
contencons happening between them to the dishoni" of God and the 
breach of the Kings peace, the Court hath thereupon ordered that the 
said Amy shall be toughed round about the Margarett and John and 
ducked three times and further that Christopher Hall, John Upton, 
Robert Fitt and William Harrison and Amy the wife of the said 
Christopher Hall and Ann the wife of the said Robet Fitt shall be all 
bound unto their good behaviour and to appear at y*^ Quarter Court 
after Christmas. 

Midde Plantation. About 1632 Sir John Harvey ran a pali- 
sade six miles in length from ArCher's Hope Creek to Queen's 
Creek, which empties in York River, and, about the center, on 
the ridge, he laid out a settlement called Middle Plantation. 
This became the seat of the college of William and Mary in 
1693, and of the capital, after Jamestown was abandoned, in 
1699. It is now called Williamsburg, and is distant seven 
miles from Jamestown. Its present population is about 2,500. 

Kingsinill. This plantation gets its name from Richard 



James River — Nortpi Side. 235 

Kingsmill, who appears to have obtained a patent for 850 acres 
in a neck between Archer's Hope Creek and James River. 
A patent in 1637 to Humphrey Higginson lor " Tuttey's 
Neck," in James City County, describes it as separated from 
Kingsmill Neck by a branch of Archer's Hope Creek. Eliza- 
beth Kingsmill, daughter of Richard Kingsmill, married, first, 
Colonel William Tayloe, and, secondly, Colonel Nathaniel 
Bacon, Sr., of the council. The latter had no children, and 
left Kiiigsuiill to his niece, Abigail Smith, who married Lew'is 
Burwell. His son, Lewis Burwell, built an elegant brick 
mansion here, which was standing about 1800. It was de- 
scribed in 1780 as two stories high, four rooms to a floor, Avith 
two wings for offices ; the ground in front of the house was 
terraced to the river, and there were on the place, besides, a 
large brick storehouse, stables, barns and coach house. 

Littletozvn. This adjoined Kingsmill, and in Alarch, 1633, 
was the residence of Captain George Menifie, of the council, 
one of the greatest merchants in Virginia. He had a garden 
of two acres on the river side, and it was full of roses of 
Provence, apple, pear and cherry trees, the various fruits 
of Holland, with different kinds of sweet smelling herbs, such 
as rosemary, sage, marjoram and thyme. He had growing 
around the house plenty of peach trees, which astonished his 
visitors very much, for they were not to be seen on the coast 
anywhere else. Here the governor sometimes held court. 
In 1 66 1, Littletow'U was the residence of Col. Thomas Pettus, 
of the council. He married the widow of Richard Durant, 
and his widow, Elizabeth, married Captain John Grove, who 
died in 1671. Captain Thomas Pettus, Jr.'s, widow. Mourn- 
ing, married James Bray, Jr., and thus the place passed to the 
Bray family till 1752, when, on the death of Colonel Thomas 
Bray, Littletown descended to his daughter, Elizabeth, who 
married Colonel Philip Johnson. Elizabeth Johnson, daughter 
of James Bray Johnson, son of Colonel Philip Johnson, 
married Chancellor Samuel Tyler, who died in 181 2. 

Utopia Bottoms. Adjoining Littletown are some deep 
ravines and bottoms, once owned by the poet George Sandys, 
called, in a patent granted to him, " Utopia," and still known 
as " Utopia Bottoms." 

War chain Ponds. These ponds constituted the east bound- 



230 



The Cradle of the Republic. 



ary of Harrop Parish, and the west bounds of Martin's 
Hundred. " Werrum's Run," a name given to a marshy 
branch near " Carter's Grove," is probably the place denoted 
by " Wareham Ponds." 

Martin's Hundred. This was the plantation of the society 
of Martin's Hundred, organized by certain lords, knights and 
gentlemen in England. They got a grant in 1618 from the 
parent company — the London Company — for 80,000 acres, 
and settled a colony in the east end of James City county on 
the west side of Skiff es (Keith's) Creek. It was named in 
honor of Richard Martin, Esq., an attorney for the London 

Company, and a leading 
member of the society. 
In October, 1618, the 
society sent the gift of 
God to Virginia with about 
250 settlers for the planta- 
tion, and they arrived in 
Virginia about January or 
March, 1619. 

On July 31, 16 19, Mar- 
tin's Plundred was repre- 
sented in the first Virginia 
assembly by John Boys 
and John Jackson. 

In the massacre of 
March 22, 1622, this settle- 
Seventy-eight persons were slain, 
and Martin's Hundred was temporarily abandoned ; but in 
February, 1624, two years later, twenty-four persons were 
living there. 

In January, 1625, about thirty-one persons were resident 
there, of whom William Harwood was head. Martin's 
Hundred was represented in the Legislature, until counties 
were formed in 1634. 

Till the Revolution, it constituted a distinct parish, and the 
foundations of the church may yet be seen on the roadside 
going into Blow's Neck. In Martin's Hundred, Robert Car- 
ter had a plantation on James River, called " Carter's Grove," 
which became the residence of his grandson, Carter Burwell, 




RICHARD MARTIN. 

ment suffered severely. 



James River — North Side. 237 

whose house, a handsome brick structure, is still standing. 
It is now the property of Dr. E. G. Booth. 

Skiff es or Keith's Creek. This creek derives its name from 
Rev. George Keith, who was for a time a minister at Ber- 
muda, but came to Virginia in 161 7 in the ship George. He 
lived in the corporation of Elizabeth City in 1626, where he 
owned 100 acres of land. Mrs. Susan Keith, reported in 1624 
among the dead at Jamestown, was probably his first wife. 
In 1634, he was " pastor of Kiskiacke," York County, at which 
time he obtained a grant of land on Chisman's Creek, due 
partly for the adventure of his wife (second wife), Martha, 
and for his son, John. In 1625, he was forty years old, and 
his son John eleven years old. George Keith may have been 
connected with the celebrated George Keith, who flourished 
at the close of the century and was at first an eminent Quaker, 
but, renouncing that faith, was equally as eminent as a minis- 
ter of the established church, and as an author. His daugh- 
ter, Anne, married George Walker, of Hampton, Va., wdiom 
Keith visited in 1704. She was still liAdng in 1728, when the 
Quaker preacher, Rev. Samuel Bownas, visited Hampton. 
Her daughter, jNIargaret, married Xlio^'ias Wythe, a magis- 
trate of Elizabeth City county. Their son was the celebrated 
George Wythe, distinguished equally as a statesman, a jurist, 
and a professor of law in William and Mary College. He 
was taught Greek by his mother, Margaret (Walker) Wj^the, 
and became an accomplished scholar. He was the first pro- 
fessor of law in the United States. 

Mulberry Island. Like Jamestown and Henrico, this, at the 
time the settlers came, was not an island, and is not an island 
now, although at high tide the water from the James and 
Warwick rivers join and may be seen in the road. It gains 
a place in our early history as being the point where, on June 
8, 1610, Captain Edward Brewster, commanding the pinnace 
Virginia, met Sir Thomas Gates and the Jamestown colony 
on their way back to England, and gave the command from 
Lord Delaware for their return. 

There was a grant here, before 1626, for 1,700 acres to John 
Rolfe, who married Captain William Peirce's daughter. Jane, 
and in January, 1625, the place was occupied by thirty of 



238 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Captain William Peirce's company. In 1635, Rev. Willis 
Heyley, " clarke and pastor of Mulberry Island," received a 
grant of 250 acres, and the consideration was stated to be 
two-fold, viz. : " his faithful pains in the Ministrie exemplified 
by a godly and quiet life, thereby seconding his doctrine, and 
next as a spur and encouragement for others of his calling to 
pursue so fair and bright an example." It seems that Robert 
Poole had 300 acres in 1627 on Warwick River, adjoining 
Stanley Hundred above, and that below him, at the mouth of 
the Warwick River, was Lieutenant Gilbert Peppet, with 250 
acres of land. 

The church of Mulberry Island was said to be west of 
Robert Poole's land. 

By the side of the road going from Lee Hall into Mulberry 
Island is still pointed out the place wdiere an old church once 
stood. 

Stanley Hundred. In 1626, Sir George Yeardley, the 
governor, intimated his intention to the council to take up 
1,000 acres, bounded northerly upon Blunt Point River 
(Warwick River) and southerly upon the main river, and 
easterly by a creek which separated him from the land of 
Robert Poole and Lieutenant Peppet. Governor Yeardley 
was buried at Jamestown, November 13, 1627, and on 
February 9, i627-'28. Lady Yeardley acknowledged a sale of 
the land under the name of " Stanley Hundred " to Thomas 
Flint, who accordingly patented it September 20, 1628. It 
was described as adjoining the lands of John Rolfe, Esquire, 
and Captain William Peirce, in Mulberry Island. The place 
passed to John Brewer, Avho served as burgess for Warwick 
River and member of the council. He returned to England, 
where he was " citizen and grocer of London." Brewer's 
will was proved in London, ]\Iay 13, 1636, and in it he 
bequeathed Stanley Hundred to his son. John, who settled in 
Isle of Wight county, and has descendants on the south side. 
The widow of John Brewer, Sr., married Thomas Butler, 
" clarke and pastor of Denbie." 

Stanley is now the name of one of the magisterial districts 
of Warwick County, and includes Mulberry Island. 

Denbigh. This was the plantation of Col. Samuel Mathews, 
who came to Virginia in 1622, and filled every office up to 



James River — North Side. 239 

and including governor. A contemporary wrote in 1649 ^"^^ 
he had a fine house, sowed much hemp and flax, and had h 
spun; kept weavers and a tannery, had forty negro slaves, 
whom he brought up to mechanical trades, and sowed large 
crops of w^heat and barley. He also supplied vessels trading 
to Virginia with beef. He had plenty of cows, a fine dairy, 
and abundance of hogs and poultry, and is finally described as 
one who " kept a good house, lived bravely, and was a true 
lover of \ irginia." He married Frances, daughter of Sir 
Thomas Hinton, and widow successively of Captain Nathaniel 
West, brother of Lord Delaware, and of Captain Abraham 
Peirsey, which last, at his death left " the best estate that 
ever was known in Virginia." 

Denbigh, in 1678, was owned by John Mathews. " grand- 
son of Samuel Alathews, Esquire," and was described as con- 
taining 2,944 acres lying on James River between Deep Creek 
and Warwick River. In 1630, Denbigh was represented in 
the house of burgesses by Thomas Ceeley, Christopher 
Stoakes and Thomas Key. In 1633, a public storehouse was 
established at Denbigh. Then, in 1680, a town was ordered 
by the assembly to be built there, " at the mouth of Deep 
Creek, on Mr. Mathews' land," and to be called Warwick 
Town. In 1691, this order was renewed, and it was stated 
that a brick courthouse and prison, together with several 
other houses, had been there built. The plantation of the 
Digges family, on Warwick River, was during the eighteenth 
centurv known as " Denbigh," and a district of the county 
still goes by that name. 

Nutmeg Quarter. Below Blunt Point, in Warwick County, 
Sir Francis Wyatt had 500 acres of land planted in 1626. This 
was called " Nutmeg Quarter." It seems he increased this 
dividend; for in July, 1635, Joseph Stratton patented 500 
acres, part of a dividend formerly belonging to Sir Francis 
Wyatt. It lay upon the river side, and had for bounds on 
the southeast a piece of land that " did once belong to Capt. 
John Smith," on the northwest land of John Laydon, whose 
marriage with Anne Burras was the first in the United States. 
Nutmeg Quarter was represented in the house of burgesses 
in October, 1629. by William Cole and William Bentley ; in 
February, 1630, by Joseph Stratton; and in 1633, by Francis 



240 The Cradle of the Republic.^ 

Hough. After counties were formed, Nutmeg Quarter con- 
tinued a separate parish tih 1656, when on the petition of 
Captain Thomas Pritchard, in behalf of the majority of the 
inhabitants, it was united with Denbigh Parish. 

Waters' Creek. The name of this creek is incorrectly given 
in the Coast Survey as Watts' Creek, but it was named for 
Captain Edward Waters, who, in 1624, got a patent for 100 
acres on Waters' Creek, " two miles from Blunt Point." 
Captain Waters had an eventful life. He Avas born in 1584, 
and left England for Virginia in 1609, in the Sea Venture,. 
which bore Sir Thomas Gates. The ship was wrecked on the 
Bermuda Islands, and Waters, with the rest, was compelled to^ 
remain forty-two weeks till they built two cedar ships, the 
DcJk'erance and the Patience, and by this means finally reached 
their destination in Mrginia. 

Shortly afterwards. Waters returned with Sir George 
Somers to the island for hogs, which abounded there in a wild 
state. Sir George Somers died, and his nephew, Matthew 
Somers, sailed wnth his body to England, leaving Waters and 
two others to hold the island. During his absence. Waters 
and his companions found a gigantic piece of ambergris 
weighing 160 pounds, and worth i 120,000 sterling (about 
$3,000,000 in present money). The treasure was claimed by 
the London Company, and W^aters only received a small share 
of its value. 

He remained in Bermuda nine or ten years, during which 
time he was a member of the council. In 1618 or 1619, he 
moved to A'irginia, and about 1620 married Grace O'Neil, 
whose second husband was Colonel Obedience Robins, of 
Northampton County. At the great massacre in 1622, himself 
and wife were taken prisoners by the Nansemond Indians, but, 
finding a small boat, they secretly escaped, and rowed over to 
Kecoughtan. In 1625, he was living, aged forty, on Waters' 
Creek, with his wife, aged twenty-one, and two children, 
William and Margaret, both born in Virginia. Pie was a 
captain, a burgess and a justice of Elizabeth City County, and 
was still living in TvTarch, 1629. His descendants are numer- 
ous and highly respectable. 

Mary's Mount. This place lay above Newport News. Upon 
February i, 1630, Daniel Gookin, Jr., conveyed to Thomas 



James River — North Side. 241 

Addison, late servant of Daniel, his father, 150 acres of land 
above Newport News, at a place called " Mary's Mount." The 
site of the plantation is still indicated by a point of land known 
as " Merry Point." It is not improbable that this name is 
derived from Morton's celebrated settlement of " Merry 
Mount " in jMassachusetts, as some of his men came to 
Virginia. 

Neivport Ncivs. This place appears on Smith's map as 
" Point Hope,'' but it seems to derive its present name from 
Newcestown, near Bandon in County Cork, Ireland. Sir 
William Newce was the founder of Newxestown, and in 1621 
he came Avith Sir Francis Wyatt to Virginia, where he served 
as marshal of the colony and member of the council. He was 
preceded to Virginia by his brother Captain Thomas Newce, 
who was by the London Company made superintendent of 
the company's lands and tenants, and in 1620 settled at Eliza- 
beth City. 

The example of the Newces was followed by their friend 
Daniel Gookin, Esquire, who, November 15, 1620, engaged 
with the London Company to ship cattle to Virginia from 
Ireland. Lender date of January, 1622, the governor and 
council thus noticed Gookin's arrival in Virginia. " There 
arrived here, about the 22 of November, a shipp from Mr. 
Gookin out of Ireland wholly upon his own adventure, with- 
out any relation at all to his contract with you in England, 
which w'as so well furnished with all sortes of provisione. as 
well as with cattle, as wee could wyshe all men would follow 
their example. Lie hath also brought with him about fifty 
men upon that adventure, besides some thirty passengers. 
Wee have according to their desire seated them at New Port's 
Nezvs, and they do conceive great hope, yff the Irish planta- 
tion prpr (prosper), yt (that) from Ireland great multitudes 
of people will like to come hither.'' 

Though hailing like the Newces from Newcestown in Ire- 
land, Daniel Gookin, was nevertheless an Englishman, and 
he named the port at which he landed New Port Newce in , 
honor of Newcestown and Sir William Newce. Gookin 
obtained a patent of 2,500 acres, and the census of Virginia 
in 1625 shows that Newport News was occupied solely by 
16 



242 The Cradle of the Republic. 

" Daniel Gookin's muster." In March, 1622, with thirty-five 
men he successfully defended his settlement against all attacks 
of the Indians, and afterwards brought to England the first 
news of the massacre in Virginia.^ 

It is probable that he did not return but carried on his 
plantation in Virginia through his son Daniel Gookin, Jr., who 
was found in 1633 at Newport News by Peter DeVries, the 
Dutch ship captain, who narrates that at " Newport-snuw " 
there was a fine spring, from which all ships navigating the 
James obtained their water. 

Daniel Gookin, Jr., was a Puritan in his sympathies, and 
left Virginia in May, 1644, for Massachusetts, where he be- 
came one of the most prominent men. His tombstone is at 
Cambridge with this inscription: 

Here lyeth Interred 

v^ body of 

MAJOR GENERAL DANIEL GOOKIN 

Aged 75 

who departed this hfe 

ye 19th March 1686-7. 

There is a grant dated April 20, 1685, to Hon. William Cole, 
Esq., secretary of the colony of Virginia, for land partly in 
Warwick County and partly in Elizabeth City County, " com- 
monly called Newports News," containing, '* according to the 
most ancient and lawful bounds thereof," 1,431 acres, "being 
all that can be found, upon an exact survey, of 2,500 acres 
formerly granted to Daniel Gookin, Esquire, except 250 acres 
formerly conveyed and made over to the said Gookin." And 
Daniel Gookin, Jr., and John Gookin conveyed the said land 
to John Chandler, who sold the same to Captain Benedict 
Stafford, from whom the said land was found to escheat by a 
jury April 3, 1684, and was then granted to Col. William Cole 
and Capt. Roger Jones, which last made over his interest to 
said Cole, the patentee in 1685. Susanna Cole, daughter of 
Col. William Cole, married Colonel Dudley Digges, of York 
county, son of Governor Edward Digges, and grandson of Sir 
Dudley Digges, master of the rolls to King Charles I. In 
1787, Newport News was owned by William Digges, great- 
grandson of Dudley Digges. 

1 " Newport News, Origin of its Name," in William and Mary Coll. 
Quart., IX., 233-237. 



James River — North Side. 243 

The waters off Newport News are made famous by two 
celebrated vessels both called Virginia — the pinnace Vir- 
ginia, which in June, 1610, carried the glad tidings of the 
arrival of Lord Delaware at Point Comfort to the vessels 
coming down the river from Jamestown, and the Confederate 
iron-clad Jlrginia, zvhich on March 8, 1862. rcvolufioniacd 
naval ivarfare by defeating the pozverful Federal fleet of 
ivooden battle ships, splendidly equipped and gallantly manned. 

March 8, 1862, the Virginia with ten guns, supported by 
several small wooden steamboats, having eleven guns in all, 
engaged the Federal fleet armed with 204 guns, and power- 
fully aided by several lighter craft and by the batteries at 
Newport News. The engagement commenced at 3.30 p. m., 
and by 6 o'clock p. m., the Virginia had sunk the Cumberland, 
burned the Congress, disabled and driven the Minnesota 
ashore, and compelled the St. Lazvrence and the Roanoke, to 
seek shelter under the guns of Fort Monroe. Two small 
steamers were also blown up, and two transport steamers 
were captured.^ In the battle, however. Captain Franklin 
Buchanan was wounded, and the command of the Virginia 
devolved upon Lt. Catesby ap R Jones. 

The next day the Virginia encountered the Monitor Ericsson 
— a vessel much more heavily armored, scarcely presenting 
any surface above water, and unlike her antagonist exceed- 
ingly nimble by reason of the lightness of her draught. It 
was the first battle betzveen iron dads ever fought, and for 
four hours they battered one another with their guns without 
doing any particular damage, until at last a shell from the 
Virginia exploded in the turret of the Monitor, and blinded 
her gallant captain, John L. Worden. Thereupon, the 
Monitor, according to the official statement^ of G. J. Van 
Brunt, captain of the Minnesota, steamed out of range of shot 
towards Old Point Comfort, and the Virginia having waited 
three quarters of an hour" for her antagonist to renew the 
fight (during which interval she fired eleven guns at the 
Minnesota), retired to Norfolk, as the tide was falling. Twice 
afterwards the Jlrginia returned to the Roads on April 11, 

1 Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies. VII., 41. 

2 Ibid., VII., 12: 

3 Ibid., VII., 60. 



244 The Cradle of the Republic. 

1862, and May 8, 1862, but in each case the Monitor, though 
supported by the Stevens Battery, the Naugatuck, and other 
iron ships decHned to risk a second encounter. The Virginia 
successfully protected the right wing of General Joseph E. 
Johnston's army by closing the entrances to the James and 
Elizabeth rivers ; but when his left wing at Yorktown was 
turned and the Peninsula had to be evacuated, the Confederates 
blew her up May 11, 1862, near Craney Island, as her great 
draught of twenty-three feet prevented her from going up 
James River. ^ At the time of the combat between the Virginia 
and Monitor there were two or three houses on the shore at 
Newport News, but there has been a great change since. 
Its value as a strategic point was demonstrated during the 
.war, and the wisdom of Daniel Gookin in selecting it as the 
site of his proposed town, has been vindicated by the phe- 
nomenal growth within a few years past of a city of 25,000 
inhabitants. 

In the great shipyard at Newport News was recently built 
an ironclad of the Federal Navy called also The Virginia, 
which is recognized as one of the finest battleships afloat on 
the waters anywhere. 

Salford's Creek. This creek is on the east of Newport 
News, and receives its name from Robert Salford, who came 
to Virginia in 161 1, and resided near its mouth with his wife 
Jane and son John. It is now known as Salter's Creek, but, 
in the Elizabeth City records, the name, as late as the i8th 
century, is written Salford's Creek. About 1639, Thomas 
Ceeley, a member of the house of burgesses, resided here, 
and in the i8th century the land was owned by Colonel Wilson 
Miles Cary, who lived in a handsome brick residence of two 
stories, with wings, commanding a splendid view of Hamp- 
ton Roads. The plantation was called " Ceeleys " and con- 
tained some 2,000 acres. During the war (1861-65), the 
house was occupied by a settlement of negro squatters, and 
while in their occupation the residence was burned, and after- 
wards the walls were removed to furnish chimneys for the 
hovels of the negroes. - 

^ Career of the Virginia, by D. B. Phillips. ( Va. Hist. Soc. Coll. 
[new series], VI., 195.) 
2 Va. Magazine, IX., 104-109. 



James River — North Side. 245 

Kecoughtan} Because the Kecoughtan Indians killed 
Humphrey Blunt near Blunt Point. Sir Thomas Gates, on July 
9, 1610, drove the werowance, Pochins, and his tribe away, 
and built two small stockades near the mouth of James River 
— Fort Henry and Fort Charles, named in honor of the sons 
of James I. They were located on a rivulet which Lord 
Delaware called Southampton ( Flampton) River — in honor 
of Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, whose name was 
also given to the splendid body of water into which the rivulet 
entered — -Southampton (Hampton) Roads. These forts 
were abandoned the following fall, but were reoccupied by Sir 
Thomas Dale in 1611. 

Fort Henry was located where stands at present the 
Soldier's Home on the Strawberry Bank, and a mile further 
east was Fort Charles. Each of these forts in 1613 had 
fifteen soldiers, but no ordnance; and in 1614 Captain George 
Webb was the principal commander of both. In the latter 
year, Hamor described them as " goodly seats and much corn 
about them, abounding with the commodities of fish, fowle, 
Deere and fruits, wdiereby the men liued there with halfe that 
maintenaunce out of the Store which in other places is 
allowed." In i6t6, there were at Kecoughtan twenty men 
governed by the same commander, Captain George Webb, 
and of the number Mr. William Mease was minister and 
eleven were farmers who maintained themselves. In 1619, 
William Tucker was captain there, and he and William 
Capps represented it in the general assembly, which was 
convened that year in Jamestown. On the petition of the 
inhabitants, who did not like the heathen Kecoughtan, the 
name Elizabeth City, from Elizabeth, King James' daughter, 
was given to one of the four great corporations in which all 
the settlements were included. 

About this time the land from the mouth of Hampton 
River to the Bay was appropriated to public uses, and 3,000 
acres were assigned to the London Company, 1,500 acres for 
the common use and 100 acres for a glebe. The portion from 
Hampton River to the end of Mill Creek was called " Straw- 
berry Bank " and the portion between Mill Creek and the 
Bay shore " Buck Roe." 

1 " Old Kecoughtan," in William and Mary Coll. Quart., IX., 83-131. 



246 The Cradle of the Republic. 

In 1620, the company sent some Frenchmen to Buck Roe to 
teach the colonists how to plant mulberry trees and vines, 
raise silkworms, and make wine. They were selected by John 
Bonnell, silkworm raiser to the king at Oakland, from Lan- 
gnedock in France, and among them were Anthony Bonnell,^ 
Elias La Guard,- James Bonnell, Peter Arundell and David 
Poole. 

In 1621, Captain Thomas Newce came over as manager of 
the company's land, and received 600 acres in this region. 

At this time the minister of Elizabeth City was James 
Stockton, son of William Stockton, parson of Barkeswell, 
County Warwick, England; and in May, 1621, he wrote a 
letter regarding the treacherous character of the Indians, and 
the futility of any attempt to convert them till " their Priests 
and Ancients " were put to death. He appears to have been 
the earliest exponent of the doctrine that "the only good 
Indian is a dead Indian." The next year occurred the mas- 
sacre, and the warning of Mr. Stockton may have served the 
people at Elizabeth City to good purpose, for no one was 
killed there. After the first news Captain Newce called all 
his neighbors together at his house, which he defended with 
three cannon, and took measure not only for their relief, 
but built two houses and " a faire well of water mantled with 
brick "' for the reception of emigrants dail^y expected from 
England ; and, foreseeing the famine that must necessarily 
ensue, caused a large crop of corn to be planted around the 
fort. In all these works the captain acted the part of a 
sawyer, carpenter and laborer, but met with many difficulties. 
In the latter part of June Governor Wyatt, accompanied by 
his council and many other gentlemen, spent three or four 
days with him and ate up the crop of corn near the fort, 
before the ears were half grown. However, Captain Newce, 
sick and weak as he was, never tired of Vv^ell doing; but when 
all was spent and the colonists had to live on crabs and oysters, 
distributed among them, as he saw occasion, a little milk and 
rice which he still had left, and behaved with such " tenderness 

1 He was probablj' ancestor of the Bonny (Anglocised from "Bon- 
nell") family of Princess Ann and Norfolk Counties. 

2 He was probably ancestor of the Ellegood family. 



James River — North Side. 247 

and care " that he obtained the reputation of being the best 
commander in Virginia.^ 

September 9, 1622, his men were attacked at their labors by 
the Indians, which w-as their first assault since the massacre ; 
and four men were slain. The captain, although extremely 
sick, sallied forth, but the Indians hid in the cornfields at 
night and escaped without any loss. About this time Samuel 
Collier, w^ho had come, as a boy, to Virginia and was very 
useful as Indian interpreter, was accidentally killed by a senti- 
nel ; and in the general neglect of agriculture we are told that 
the vineyards at Buck Roe were greatly bruised by the deer. 
Captain Newce died the next year ( 1623) and he was preceded 
to the grave by his brother Sir William Newce, who had come 
a very short time before as high marshal to Virginia. In 
the revenge now taken on the savages no quarter was given, 
and Captain William Tucker, of Elizabeth City, was one of 
the commanders who led expeditions against them. In 1624 
the population of Elizabeth City was 349; and in 1627 Rev. 
Mr. Stockton had the lease of 50 acres " within the Com- 
pany's land at Elizabeth City," at the Indian House Thicket. 
It appears the irony of fate that an Indian school should now 
be seen near where once was an Indian thicket, and the pro- 
phetic Stockton announced his conviction of the original 
depravity of the Indian. As a result of the massacre, the 
Indians were driven far away from the settlements, and the 
colony in a few years again put on 'a prosperous appearance. 
In 1628, we are told that there was a great plenty of every- 
thing in the colony and " peaches in abundance at Elizabeth 
City." 2 

About 1630, Col. William Claiborne set up on the very site 
of the present town of Hampton a store house for trade with 
the Indians up Chesapeake Bay, and here he resided after be- 
ing driven out of Kent Island by Lord Baltimore. He re- 
moved to West Point about 1661. 

In 1632, the French vignerons at Buck Roe incurred the 
resentment of the general assembly by dropping into 
tobacco raising, and a law was passed inhibiting them from 

1 Smith, Works (Arber's ed.), 593, 595. 

2 Ibid. (Arber's ed.), 8S7. 



248 The Cradle of the Republic. 

so doing on penalty of forfeiting their leases and having to 
quit the colony. 

In February, 1634, Leonard Calvert and his emigrants 
stopped here on their way to found the great state of Mary- 
land at St. Mary's. 

In 1635, Benjamin Syms left his famous legacy of land and 
cattle on Back River for the first free school in America, and 
in 1659 Dr. Thomas Eaton established another school near 
Syms' — two benefactions now represented by a fund of 
$10,000 and a fine brick building at Hampton having the 
name of the " Syms-Eaton Academy." 

In 1637, after Fort Henry had been abandoned, the field of 
no acres on which it stood was granted to Captain Francis 
Hooke, Esq., of the Royal Navy, commander at Point Com- 
fort, and one of the Council of State ; and in 1648 the land 
fell to Major Richard Moryson, one of Captain Hooke's 
successors in command at Point Comfort. 

The first church at Elizabeth City lay on the north side of 
the present trolley car line from Hampton to Phoebus, and its ' 
site is doubtless indicated by an old graveyard on' the lale 
Major Thomas Tabb's property. A grant to one Rober,t 
Partin in 1637 bounds his lease of forty acres as " south on 
the Fort Field and north towards the church." In this church 
during January of this year Sir John Harvey read his com- 
mission to be governor a second term, and in 1644 William 
Wilkinson, afterwards the second Protestant minister in 
IMaryland, was its rector. 

About 1667, a new church was built on the west of Flamp- 
ton (at a place lately known as "Pembroke Farm"), and- 
that year a burial took place in the " old church at Kecough- 
tan " and another at the " new church." In 1699, Walter^" 
Baile)^ was paid 400 lbs. of tobacco for "pulling down the- 
old church and setting up benches in ye court house ;" and 
in 1704 Rev. George Keith, a celebrated missionary of the 
Episcopal Church, visited his son-in-law, George Walker, on 
the Strawberry Bank, and " preached in the church at 
Kikotan," by which he must have meant the second church. 

Elizabeth City had been the name adopted in 1619. but 
" Kecoughtan " adhered to the county around Southampton 



James River — North Side. 



249 



River during the whole of the 17th century. The town of 
Hampton (contraction for Southampton) was not regularly 
established till 1680, and then it was laid out on land formerly 
attached to Col. William Claiborne's storehouse, and then 
belonging to Thomas Jarvis, a ship-captain, who married 
Elizabeth Bacon, daughter of Sir Edward Duke, and widow 
of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr. 

In the waters near by occurred, on the 29th of April, 1700, 
the obstinate fight of the fifth-class English man-of-war 
Shoreham with a pirate ship, in which, however, the pirate 
was beaten. Among the casualties was the death of Peter 
Heyman, collector of the customs for the James River, and 
grandson of Sir 
Peter Heyman, of 
Su m m e r fi e 1 d, 
County Kent, 
England. He was 
shot down by the 
side of Sir Fran- 
cis Nicholson, the 
governor, w h o 
was himself on 
board the Shore- 
ham and partici- 
pated in the af- 
fray. 

Hither also 
came the gallant 
Captain Henry llack beard, the pirate. 

Maynard, after his victory, November 21, 1718, over the pirate 
Blackbcard, or Teach, in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, 
swinging the pirate's head from his bowsprit and bearing 
captive the survivors of the pirate's crew, most of whom were 
hanged afterwards at Williamsburg. Blackbeard's head was 
set up at the mouth of Hampton River, and the point is still 
known as Black Beard Point. 

On July I, 1715, permission was granted by Alexander 
Spottswood, the governor, for the justices to remove from 
their old court-house and build a new one in Hampton town, 



r 




250 The Cradle of the Republic. 

and land was purchased from Captain William Boswell for 
the purpose. 

When John Fontaine visited^ Hampton in 1716, it was a 
place of 100 houses and had the greatest trade in Virginia. 
All the men-of-war lay before this arm of the river, and the 
inhabitants drove a great trade with New York and Penn- 
sylvania, but " it has no church." Twelve years later, the 
church at Pembroke Farm had become ruinous, and, on June 
17, 1727,- Mr. Jacob Walker and I\Ir. John Lowry were ap- 
pointed by the court of Elizabeth City to lay off and value an 
acre and a half of ground on Queen's Street, joining upon Mr. 
Boswell's lots, for building the church thereon. The same day,. 
Mr. Henry Cary, by order of the minister, church wardens and 
the court, was permitted to take wood, " at the rate of six 
pence per load to burn bricks for the church, from the School 
land." ^ But it seems that a portion of the people of the parish 
did not desire to remove from the old quarters, and they ap- 
pealed the matter to the governor and council. They heard 
the complaint and decided'* October 27, 1727, that " the new 
church should be built in Hampton Town as the most con- 
venient place in the said parish." In 1760, Alexander Kennedy 
devised land to the poor of Elizabeth City county, and the sum 
of " 40 pds. sterling towards purchasing out of England a bell 
for the church of Elizabeth City Parish, provided the vestry 
and church wardens will undertake a belfry within twelve 
months after my decease." 

Hampton was captured during the war of 1812 by the 
British under Admiral Cockburn, and subjected to pillage and 
outrage. During the war between the States, the inhabitants 
set fire to their own dwellings, rather than they should afford 
a shelter to the enemy. It has been called the " Gamecock 
Town," and has produced a number of prominent and distin- 
guished men, of whom George Wythe, Commodore James 
Barron, and Commodore Lewis Warrington are perhaps the 
most distinGfuished. 



1 Maurv, Hugiccnot Family, 293. 

2 Elizabeth City Co. Records. 

3 Elisabeth City Co. Records. 

4 Council Journal, 1727. 



James River — North Side. 251 

Little England. A place between Hampton and the 
mouth of Hampton River ; anciently known as Capps' 
Point and agreeing with the description of some land patented 
in 1627 by a prominent settler named William Capps. 

Point Comfort. This received its name at the first coming 
of the settlers because they found deep water here, permitting 
the passage of their ships into the water beyond. After 
Captain Smith's departure for England, in October, 1609, 
President George Percy sent Captain John Ratcliffe down to 
the mouth of the river to erect a fort as a precaution against 
an attack of the Spaniards, who claimed the continent. He 
chose the present site of Fort Monroe, and named the fort 
"Algernourne Fort," in honor of President Percy's ancestor, 
William Algernourne de Percy, who came to England with 
William the Conqueror. 

After Ratcliffe, Captain James Davis had command for 
several years, and in 1614 the fort was described as a stockade 
" without stone or brick," containing 50 persons, men, women 
and boys, and protected by seven pieces of artillery ; two of 
thirty-five " quintales," and the others thirty, twenty and 
eighteen — all of iron. 

After Percy's departure for England, in April, 1612, the 
name Algernourne Fort was discontinued ; and the place, for 
many years afterwards, was referred to as " Point Comfort 
Fort." 

In 1632, the fort, having fallen into disuse, was rebuilt by 
Captain Samuel Alathews, afterwards governor, and furnished 
with a guard of eight men ; and Captain Francis Pott, brother 
of Governor John Pott, of the ancient family of the Potts of 
Harrop, in Yorkshire, was made commander, and continued 
such till he was removed by Sir John Harvey in 1635. 

In that year (1635) Francis Hooke, of the Royal Xavy, 
" an old servant of King Charles," was put in command. 

He died in 1637, and Captain Christopher Wormeley, who 
had been governor of Tortugas, was for a short time in 
charge. 

Then, in 1639, succeeded Richard Moryson, son of Sir 
Richard Moryson, and brother-in-law of the noble cavalier, 
Lucius Cary, Lord Falkland, who married Letitia Aloryson. 



252 The Cradle of the Republic. 

In 1641, he returned to England, and left his brother, Lieu- 
tenant Robert Moryson, in charge of the fort. 

In 1649, Major Francis Moryson, another brother, who had 
served King Charles in the wars with the Parliament, came to 
Virginia with Colonel Henry Norwood, Colonel ]\Iainwaring 
Hammond, and other cavaliers, and was appointed by Sir 
William Berkeley captain of the fort. After Major Moryson, 
his nephew. Colonel Charles Moryson, son of Richard Mory- 
son, about 1664, succeeded to the command of the fort. 

For the support of the captain, what were known as " castle 
duties '" were established in 1632, consisting, at first, of " a 
barrel of powder and ten iron shot" required of every ship; 
and the captain kept a register of all arrivals. 

By 1665, the fort was entirely out of repair, and the general 
assembly in obedience to orders from the king appointed 
Captain William Bassett to build a new fort, but the council 
substituted Col. Miles Cary and his son Thomas, as Bassett 
lived too remote.^ Before the work was finished, however, 
the great storm of 1667 w-ashed away the very foundations, 
and Col. Cary lost his life in fighting the Dutch, who made 
an attack the same year, and burnt the English shipping at 
the mouth of the river. Then the king sent new orders to 
restore the fort, but the assembly, who had very reluctantly 
obeyed in the first instance, now instead of doing what the 
king required, ordered five forts to be built at five other 
places, viz. : Nansemond, Jamestown, Tindall's Point, Coroto- 
man and Yeocomoco. As an excuse for this action, they as- 
serted in the preamble to their act the inefficiency of a fort at 
Point Comfort and the great difficulty of getting material to 
build a fort there. Of course, when the Dutch came in 1673, 
the fort was of little value in preventing their operations, and 
the shipping had the misfortunes of 1667 repeated upon them. 

Not much is recorded of the fort for many years after this, 
but in 1722 we learn that George Walker, grandfather of 
George Wythe, was governor and storekeeper of the battery 
at Point Comfort. 

In 1727, the resolve was taken by the assembly to build a 
durable fort at Point Comfort. When finished it was mounted 

1 Hening, Statutes at Large, II., 220; Virginia Magazine, V., 29. 



James River — North Side. 253 

by twenty-two guns, and about 1736 Governor Gooch re- 
portecP that: "no ship could pass it without running great 
risk." It was named Fort George, and was made of bricks, 
each nine inches long by four wide and three thick. The 
exterior wall was sixteen feet distant from the interior one, 
and the former was twenty-seven inches thick and the latter 
sixteen inches. Then the two walls were connected by counter 
walls ten or twelve feet apart forming cribs, which were 
probably filled with sand.- The fort, however, in spite of its 
apparent durability did not remain effective very long, for it 
fell a victim, in 1749, to a great hurricane, which has been 
described as most terrific and disastrous. The officer in com- 
mand was Captain James Barron, ancestor of a line of naval 
heroes distinguished in three wars. The barracks in which 
he stayed were a long row of wooden buildings with brick 
chimneys, running up through the centre of the roofs, and 
Captain Barron caused all his family, with the officers and 
. soldiers of the garrison to muster on the second floor with all 
the weighty articles they could find ; which, it was supposed, 
kept the houses firm on their foundation, and so preserved the 
lives of all concerned. The hurricane, however, entirely 
destroyed the fortification of Fort George, and Captain Barron 
removed with his family to the upper part of Mill Creek, not 
far off, where he resided during the remainder of his life.^ 

In 1756, Governor Dinwiddle, commenting on the fort, 
observed :* '' It was built on a Sandy Bank ; no care to drive 
the piles to make a Foundation ; the Sea and wind beating 
against it has quite undermined it and dismantled all the 
Guns which now lie buried in the Sand." There is no evidence 
that the fort was ever restored, but as late as 1847 parts of its 
walls were seen and described. 

The present Fort Monroe was commenced in 1819, and 
about 1830 the work of sinking rocks on the shoal opposite, 
called Rip Raps from the rippling of the Avater, was begun ; 
and afterwards a fort was erected called Fort Calhoun, and 
subsequently Fort Wool. 

1 Va. Magazine. III., 119. 

2 Va. Historical Register, I., 22. 

3 Ibid., I. .24. 
^Dlmviddlc's Letters, II., 342. 



254 The Cradle of the Republic. 

Cape Charles. This is the extreme point of the Accomac 
Peninsula, and was named for Prince Charles by the first 
settlers. In 1614, Sir Thomas Dale established some men 
under Lieutenant Craddock at Smith's Island, near the cape, 
for the purpose of making salt out of sea-water. He called 
this colony " Dale's Gift," but it does not appear to have been 
a continuous settlement. 

Chcriton [or IVissaponson?) Creek. The first permanent 
settler on the Eastern Shore of Virginia appears to have been 
Thomas Savage, who came as a boy to the colony in 1608, 
was given to Powhatan by Captain John Smith, resided for 
many years with the Indians, and learned their language. 
About 1619 he went to the Eastern Shore, and received 
from the " Laughing King " the neck of land between 
Cheriton Creek and King's Creek, known as Savage's Neck. 
In 1621, the Laughing King gave Sir George Yeardley all the 
land between Hungar's Creek and Cheriton Creek. 

Old Plantation Creek receives its name from being the 
site of Capt. John Willcox's settlement which was made the 
same year (1621). 



APPENDIX A. 

Some Statements. 

See pages 26, 29, 116. 

Mr. J. R. Bacon's statement June 2, 1900 : 

" My father, William E. Bacon, was employed by Colonel Goodrich 
Durfey as carpenter. I lived with him in the powder magazine on 
Jamestown Island, and, though but a small boy at the time, retain 
lively recollections of the appearance of the place. I remernber that 
I used to sit on the roots of the cypress tree, now standing many 
yards in the water, and fish at high tide. At low tide its roots were 
■dry. I remember that the boiler of the steamer Curtisspeck. blew up 
at the wharf while I lived there. The mail was carried to the Island 
over the causeway across the submerged neck. The pierhead of the 
wharf stood then about sixty feet from the shore. I was born in 1835, 
and was about ten years old when we removed." 

Mr. J. R. Bacon's statement December 27, 1905 : 
" When I lived upon the Island the wharf where the steamboat 
stopped vuas above the church tower and its site is indicated by some 
old piles standing out in the water. Some years after our departure, 
Col. William Allen built the wharf below his residence. 

While I did not again reside upon the Island, my father lived near 
"by, and I was employed upon a schooner which plied upon the river. 
I was, therefore, a frequent visitor to the Island, and attribute the 
wearing away of the shore to the severe northwest and southeast winds 
that frequently attacked it." 

Mr. John Gilliam's father was a carpenter employed by Colonel Dur- 
fey (who owned the Island from 1836 to 1846). The Gilliams lived 
in the brick magazine after the Bacons left it. Mr. Gilliam visited 
the Island with the author about eight years ago, and pointed out the 
cypress, now about three hundred feet distant, which in t836-'46, 
stood on the shore about a hundred yards from the magazine. Mr. 
Gilliam died in 1899, aged about seventy years. 

APPENDIX B.i 

Sir William Berkeley's Deed to Walter Chiles for Kempe's Brick 

House. 

This Indenture made the three & twentyth day of March Anno 
Domi. 1649 & in the second yeare of ye reign of o^ Lord Charles by 
ye grace of god King of England Scotland ffrance & Ireland defend'" 
of ye ffayth &c ye second of that name, Betweene the Honorable Sr 
Willm Berkeley Gou^' and Capt. gen'l of Virginia of ye one pt and 
Wak Chiles of James Citty in Virginia gent : of ye other pt. Witnesseth 

I The papers printed in this appendix are copied from the Avibler MSS. in the Library 
of Congress except the grant to John Knowles. They all refer to Jamestown Island. 

[255] 



256 The Cradle of the Republic. 

That y^ sd S'' W°^ Berkeley for and in Consideracon of ye some of 
six & twenty thousand poundes of tobacco to him in hand payd by y*^ 
sd WaK Chiles before ye ensealing & deliuery Hereof, for wch hee 
acknowledgeth himselfe fully satisfyed & from w^^ paym^ hee hath 
fully discharged the sd Wal^' Chiles his heyres, execuf® and Adm^'^ 
hath giuen granted Bargained & sold aliened assigned & sett ouer, & 
doth by these p'entes giue grant Bargain sell alien Assigne and sett 
ouer, unto ye sd Wak Chiles his heyres and assigns for ever. All yt 
his messuage or mansion house, together w*^ All gardens orchards 
yardes Backsides out houses buildings and hereditamts & appurte- 
nances whatsoeuer to ye sayd messuage or mansion house belonging, 
or in any wise Apperteyning scituate lyeing & Being in James Citty, 
both in ye tenure and occupacon of Richd Kemp esq'', and by him 
Conveyed unto S'" fifrancis Wj^att k* & purchased by y^ [sd] S"-' Wm 
Berkeley of Capt Wm Peirce attorney for ye sd S'' ffrancis Wyatt, all 
w^'^ writings remayne uppon records in ye Secretaryes office in James 
Citty as relatn thereunto being had more at Large appeareth together 
also wtli one pcell or plott of ground granted to ye sd Sr fifrancis by ord"^ 
of court Conteyning three acres more or Lesse and being in James 
Citty afforsayd adioyning to ye Land whereon the sayd messuage 
standeth To haue and to hold ye sayd houseing laund and other the 
p"" mises afforesayd w*"^ his due shares of all mines and mineralls therein 
Conteyened w'-^ all rightes and priveledges thereunto belonging, unto 
the sayd Wal^ Chiles his heyres & Asss for euer in as Large and ample 
manner & forme to all Intents & purposes as ye sd p^'mises are or haue 
beene formerly granted, unto them the sd Richd Kemp, S^' ffra : Wyatt, 
or the sayd S^' Wm Berkeley, by vertue of any former deeds of grant 
made unto them either by pattent, or Conveyance. To have and to 
hold the afforesayd p^mises and every pt and pcell thereof und^ the 
tenures, rents, services, & Condiciones in ye sd deedes of grant men- 
coned and expressed unto the sayd Wal'^ Chiles his heyres and Asss 
for euer. And the sayd Sr Wm Berkeley for himselfe his heyres 
executors Adm''^, doth Couenant and grant to & w*-^ y^ sd WaU" Chiles 
his heyres execut^'es & Adm^'s v* hee is at this p'^sent seized of an 
undefeazible estate in y'' p'mises, in fee simple according to y*^ 
tenor and purport of y^ fore menconed deeds of grant, and y^ 
the p'^mises are free and Cleare and shall bee always made free 
and Cleare by ye sd Sr Wm Berkeley [his] heyres execute's and Adm^s, 
from all former Bargaines, sales, [ ] dowres, Judgmt^^, execucons 

or any other Incombrances whatsoeuer made donne or suffered bir 
ye sayd S"" Wm Berkeley, S"" ffra : Wyatt or Rich'^ Kemp esq'" affore- 
sayd, And the sayd S"" Wm Berkeley [by] these presents furth^" con- 
enant & grant to an w*-'^ ye sd WaU' Chiles his heyres & Asss, y^ hee 
y*^ sa}'d S'" Wm Berkeley his h[e3Tes, execu^s] Adm''^ shall and will at 
all tymes heereafter warr* & defend ye fore cited [ ] to y<^ sd WaU' 

[Chiles heyrs, assignes ] execJ's Adm^s [ ] 

p sons what soe [uer ] in witness whereof [y^ sd S""] Wm Ber- 
keley hath heereunto putt his hand and scale the day and yeare aboue 
written. 



WILLIAM BERKELEY. 



Signed sealed and deliuered 

in p''sence of 

Air : Culpeper 
Ed^: Hill 
Rich : Lee 



Appendix. 257 



Deed of Nathaniel Bacon and Elizabeth His Wife for the Island 

House. 

To All to whom these presents shall Come Nathaniel Bacon 
esqr and Elizabeth his wife y^' daughter & heyr of Richard Kingsmill 
deed sendeth greetinge in our lord god Everlastinge Now know yee 
that wee y*^ s"-! Nathaniell & Elizabeth Bacon for and in Consideracon 
of a certeine sume of mony and Tobaccoe in Cashe to bee paid by 
Nicholas Meriwether accordinge to an engagem*^ vnder his hand bear- 
inge date y*^ 30'^^ of Aprill last past made vnto the s'l Nathaniell Bacon 
esqr, doe sell assigne & make ouer And by these presents haue sould 
assigned & made ouer vnto the said Nicholas Meriwether his heyrs & 
Assignes for Euer A deuident of Land belonginge to vs Scituate in 
James Citty Island Comonly called the Hand house Boundinge as Fol- 
loweth Westwardly By or w*^ out an old Ditch cross y^ old Feild nigh 
y** greate popler called mrs Harmers greate popler Northwardly by 
the Marsh or Back Creeke Eastwardly By Back Creeke and Kingsmills 
Creeke Southwardly by the Marsh or kingsmills Creeke and by a 
Branch of Pitch & Tarr Swampe, The said Land beinge formerly in 
y*^ possession of Richard kingsmill deed & is due vnto the sd Elizabeth 
Bacon as beinge y*^ daughter & heyr of the sd Richd Kingsmill To haue 
and to hold y*' sd Land w^^ the, house Orchard & all other appurten- 
ances thereto belonginge to him y^ sd Nicholas Meriwether his heyrs 
& Assignes for Euer, And y'^ sd Nathaniell & Elizabeth Bacon for 
themselues theire heyrs Exrs & Admrs doe Couenant and grant to & 
■\Yth ye sd Nicholas Meriwether his heyrs & Assigne [s] that y'' sd 
nicholas meriwether his heyrs & assignes shall foreuer quietly & pese- 
ably haue hold occupy possess & enjoy y^ aforesd Land w^^^ all other 
ys premises w^^^out y'^ let trouble Molestacon or disturbance of y*" sd 
Nathaniell & Elizabeth Bacon their heyrs Exrs Admrs or Assignes or 
either of them or any other pson or psons wtsouer In Witness 
whereof they haue put theire hands & scales this 26'^'^ day of Nouebr 
I [6] 56. 

Signed & Sealed in y'' Presence 

of Rodger Parteridge 

ye Marke of 
John Bvrsh 

John Knowles's Grant.i 

Grant to John Knowles of " 133 acres, 35 chains and nine decimal 
parts, part within and part without the liberties of James Citty, begin- 
ning at a corner stake by a Ditch near the house formerlv belonging 
to John Phipps, thence along the said Ditch East South East one third 
Southerly 11 chains & 5 primes to a corner stake one chain short of an 
old _ corner persimmon tree, thence South West half westerly three 
chains to a corner stake, thence South East one fourth southerly, seven 
chains to_ a corner stake, thence North East half easterlv two chains 
Eight Primes to a corner persimmon upon the aforesaid Ditch, thence 
along the same South East half southerly one chain and 46 Decimal 
parts tothe corner of said Ditch, &, thence South West -l4 southerly 
one chain 38 decimal parts to a corner stake, thence along a Ditch 

^ Va. Land Register, V., 63. 
17 



The Cradle of the Republic. 




Plat by John Uuderhill for John Kuowles of I33 acres, 35 chains and nine 



Appendix. 



259 




Dwiug the houses of John Knovvles, William May and John Phipps in New Towne. 



26o The Cradle of the Republic. 



South West three fourths southerly ten chains to a marked persimmon 
at the end thereof and near a branch of Pitch and Tar swamp, thence 
over South East half easterly twenty one chains, 26 Decimal parts to 
a corner poplar in Lancelot Elys line, thence along the same east % 
northerly 30 chains to Pitch and Tar swamp, thence along the same 
East one fourth northerly 13 chains, 74 Decimal parts, to a marked 
red oak near a small marsh, thence down the same South East Eight 
chains East South East 14 chains three primes including a small point 
formerly in difference, but found to belong to John Phipps, thence 
upon the edge of the high land to a marked saplin red oak by the side 
of a marsh gut, thence over the same North East half northerly 13 
chains, 6 primes, to a marked persimmon upon a point against Mr. 
Nicholas Meriwether's cleared ground, thence over a marsh and sharp 
point of high Land North West ,33 chains, 7 primes to a marked hickory 
upon the high land, thence West North West 8 chains to another 
marked hickory on the west side of a cart path, thence along the same 
South West half westerly two chains to a corner sapling red oak on 
the same side of the said path, thence West North West ten chains 
West North West half northerly ten chains North North East half 
easterly two chains to a marked sapling white oak on the North side 
of a branch of Pitch and Tar swamp & near Mr. Meriwether's fence, 
thence along the same side of the same branch West North West half 
northerly 14 chains to a corner white oak near a small branch, thence 
over the same West 2/3 northerly, 45 chains to a corner stake on the 
southerly side of a cart path to the Island House, thence West % north- 
erly, 16 chains, 5 primes to a corner stake on the same side of the same 
path, thence South by West half westerly 6 chains to a corner stake on 
the North side of a branch of pitch and Tar swamp about 3 chains 
above a bridge, thence over the said branch West by South Eleven 
chains to a corner stake at the lower end of Mr. Walter Chiles' Ditch, 
thence up the same South half westerly 16 chains to a corner stake 
near and on the East side of said Ditch then South 2/3 westerly 4 
chains to a corner stake 42 Decimal links from the South West end 
of Mr. Knowles' now dwelling house, thence South by West half 
westerly 2 chains and 21 Decimal parts to a corner stake near the 
South West corner of his old garden, thence East South East 3 chains 
to a corner stake at the other corner next to Mr. William May's house, 

thence North North East 2 chains, 27 Decimal parts to a corner stake 
at the corner of the garden next the house formerly of John Phipps, 
thence East by South one chain, 16 Decimal parts to the place where 
it began." Dated May 6, 1665. 

Patent of John Bauldwin for Land at the West End. 

To all &c whereas &c Now know ye that I y® s<^ Edwi^ Digges Esq"* 
do give and grant unto John Bauldwin fifteen acres & 69 Pches be it 
more or less lying in James Island between the main river & the back 
river bounded (viz*.) ten acres of part thereof easterly upon M^' James 
his land north upon the back river and the land hereafter menconed 
west upon the main river and South upon the Slash which lyeth be- 



Appendix. 261 

tween the State house & y® s<J M^' James & five acres & 69 Pches the 
residue at the old blocke house begining at the head of a. Marsh 
Swamp Issueing into the back river but running to the blocke house 
North ^ vi'est down behuid Marsh belonging to the backe river 
Southerly to a red oak on a point near the first menconed land thence 
South 54 west 4 Pches soewest V2 part North 36 Pches to the place it 
began. To have and to hold & c yielding and paying &c which payni*^ 
is to be made &c dated the 4th October 1656. 
Copia 

Test Ralph Gough P^" C C TIi acker 

CI Sec Off. 



Patent of William Sherwood for Land at the West End.^ 

To all &c whereas &c now know Yee that I y^ s"! S^" Henry 
Chichely Kn*. His Majt^ deputy Govern''. &c give & grant unto M^' 
William Sherwood twenty eight acres & a half of Land lying at the 
mouth of James Cittj' Island and is bounded as followeth (viz*) be- 
gining at James River at the head of a great Slash & Issuing into the 
back River and down the sd Slash East j^ a point Southerly Eighteene 
Chaines thence North Yx point Easterly fower Chaines to the 
back River Marsh and up the Same to a Markt persimon tree 
under block house hill point thence under the said Hill West six 
Chaines to James River and downe it againe to the first Mencon'd 
Slash including eight acres & thence againe down the said Slash forty 
three Chaines to M'" Richard James Land and along it South twenty 
three Chaines to a branch of Pitch & Tarr Swamp thence up the said 
branch to James River and Up the River to the place it Begun Con- 
teyning twenty & half acres the said Land Being formerly granted to 
John Baldwin by pattent dated the fowerth of October one thousand 
six hundred and fifty six for fifteene acres fifty nine perches more or less 
and now by a late survey found to Conteyne twentv eight acres and a 
halfe. And the said John Baldwin by his last will & Testamt. in writ- 
ing under his hand & seal did give the said Land to John ffulcher and 
his Heirs forever which said John ffulcher by Deed under his hand 
& seale dated the two and twentieth of October one thousand six hun- 
dred seventv & seven acknowledged & recorded in James Cittv County 
Court Sould & Conveyed the Same to the Said M"" William Sherwood 
and His Heires forever To have & to hold &c to bee held &c Yielding 
&c provided &c dated the three & twentieth day of Aprill Anno Domi, 
1681. 

Copia Test E Thacker P'" C C Thacker. C Sec Of 

Endorsed 20: April 1681 ]\Ir Sherwoods Patent for 28; Acres & 
V2 of Land. 

1 This tract was patented by John Bauldwin, see pag-e 260, and was supposed the:, to 
contain only is acres and 69 perches. See plat on page 263. 



262 The Cradle of the Republic. 



Deep Between William Sherwood and Francis Bullivant, Show- 
ing THE Location of the State House in 1694. 

This Indenture of Lease made the Sixth Day of January Ano Dom. 
16954 Between Wilham Sherwood of James Citty Gent of the pt, & 
ffran : Buliiuant of the Same place of the Other pt. Witnesseth that 
the Said WilHam Sherwood as well in Consideracon of the Sume of 
Fiue pounds sterlin to him in hand paid by the sd ffran : Buliiuant, as 
alsoe of y*^ rent & Couents hereafter menconed wch on the Tenants 
pt is to be paid & pformed hath deuised granted & to ffarme letten 
& by these p^'sents Doth Deuise grant, & to farme lett to y*^ sd ffrancis 
Buliiuant A certaine p cell of Land cont.eining by Estimacon two Acres 
be y^ Same more or less. Scittuate lying & being in James Citty 
bounded Westerly by James Riuer Southerly bv the Slash or Branch 
yt pts this Land & the State house. Easterly by the great Road, & 
Northerly by ye Sd Slash that pts this Land & the block howse Land, 
with all priviledges, proffitts, comodityes & Apptences thereto belong- 
ing (Except one halfe Acre of Land for a Landing & a Shore if the 
sd W™ Sherwood or his Assignes shall haue Occasion for y^ Same 
next to the block howse Slash) To haue & to hold the Sd Land with 
all Liberties priviledges & App tenances thereto belonging to the sd 
ffran : Buliiuant his Ex^''' Adms^'s & Assignes for & Dureing the Naturall 
Lines of the sd ffran: Buliiuant & Joyce his wife, & William Llopkins 
his Son in Law. Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & Euery Year 
Dureing the sd term to y® sd Wm Sherwood his heirs or Assignes at 
his Mansion howse in James Citty fower good fatt Capon' at y® feast 
of the Natiuity of our Lord Yearly, & tenn Dayes work Either in 
harvest time or Otherwise Yearly And y*^ sd ffran Buliiuant Doth for 
himself his Ex^'s & Admis^'s Coven* & Agree with the Said'W™ Sher- 
wood his heirs Ex''^ & Adms^'^ by these p'^sents That y*^ Said ffran. 
Buliiuant his Ex''® Adms''^ or Assignes Shall & Will truly pay y'^ Sd 
rent in manner before reserued & mncond. And he will not keep or 
suffer to rainge in James Citty any hoggs or Swine unless they be rung 
on penalty of paying tenn Shillings for Euery Such hogg, to y® Sd W"" 
Sherwood his heirs or Assigns, And further that y® Sd ffran : Buliiuant 
his Ex''* or Assigs Shall & will within three Yeares next coming plant 
an Orchard of at least fifty bearing Apple trees, & at y® end of y^ Said 
term leaue & Yeild up ye Same to y*" Sd Wm Sherwood his heirs or 
Assignes well ffenced with y'? bowses that shall be built on the sd Land 
in good & tenantable rep e, And y^ Sd W'" Sherwood for him his heirs 
& Assignes doth Covenant & p mise with ye Sd ffran Buliiuant his 
heirs Ex''® Adms''® & Assignes. That he the Sd ffran Buliiuant his 
heirs Ex^® & Assignes paying ye rent & pforming y*^ Couents before 
menconed shall peaceably Injoy y^ Sd Land with y^ Apptenances (Ex- 
cept before Excepted) Dureing ye Sd term, without the lett Suit 
trouble or Literupcon of y*^ Said W™ Sherwood his heirs or Assignes 
or any other pson by his means or pcurem*. In Witness whereof ye 
Sd pties haue to these Prsent Indenture Interchangably Sett their 
hands & Seals ye Day & year aboue written 

FFRA : BULLIVANT. 

Signed Scald & Delu'' 
in Prsence of 

P'' Perrv & Edward Ross 



Appendix. 



263 







wo tracts on Jamestown Island surveyed for William Sherwood in 16S0: 28 1-2 acres at the 
;nd, and 66 acres partly within and partly without New Towne. The plat shows Block 
! hill and the "Old Great Roade," and the houses of Walter Chiles (formerly Kempe's), 
.m Sherwood's, (formerly the Country house), and William White's (formerly May's). 

e Bauldwin's srrant, page 260, and Sherwood's, pag-e 261; also page 27. The tract to the right was intended to rep- 
)ne-half of the land granted to John Knowles in 10C5. See page 257. 



264 The Cradle of the Republic. 



Deed Showing the Location of the Turf Fort. 

To all to whom these presents shall come Micajah Perry of London 
Merchant and John Clayton of Williamsburg in Virginia Esq^" Send 
Greeting Whereas the said Micajah Perry by a certain Writeing or 
Letter of Attorney under his hand & Seal duely Executed Dated the 
Sixth day of November in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven 
Hundred and Ten Among other things therein Contained did Author- 
ize the said John Clayton in the Name of him the said Micajah Perry 
to Bargaine Sell Assigne Transferr & Confirme all such Lands Mes- 
suages and Tenements of the said Micajah Perry as the said John 
Clayton should think fitt and to make Signe and pass all Such Deeds 
as shall be Necessary thereunto Now know yea That for and in Con- 
sideration of five pounds of LawfuU Money of Great Brittain by 
Edward Jaquelin of James City in the County of James City Gent To 

the Said Micajah Perry at & be- 

iA , jO y-^ fore the Executeing of these 

//// * / C^iD presents in hand paid the re- 

f^ it C(li04v Je/t^HU i"'P^ , whereof is hereby Ac- 

/ ^^' Jyjr^ knowledged He the Said 

^ ^1 Micajah Perry by the Said 



a 



John Clayton his Attorney hath 
Remised Released & Quitt 
Claimed And by these presents for himself and his heirs Doth Re- 
mise, Release and forever Quitt Claime to the Said Edward Jaquelin 
his heires and Assignes All the Right Title Interest property Claim 
& Demand of him the said Micajah Perry and his heires of in or out 
of all that Messuage or Tenement and half an Acre of Land be the 
same more or less Scituate & being at James City in the County afore- 
said formerly in the possession of John Jarret Deed and boimded on 
the South by the River James East on the Old ffort North on the Land 
where the Mansion house of the said Edward Jaquelin now Stands and 
West on the Land late in the Possession of William Marable All 
which said Messuage and half Acre of Land now are in the Actual 
possession of him the Said Edward Jacquelin to have and to hold the 
Said Messuage and half Acre of Land to the Said Edward Jaquelin 
his heires and assignes for ever And the said Mica j all Perry by his 
Said Attorney for himself his heires Executors & Adniin'"^ doth Cove- 
nant promise and Agree to and with the said Edward Jaquelin his 
heires & Assignes by these presents That he the said Micajah Perry 
and his heires Shall and Will from time to time and at all times here- 
after within the Space of Seven Years Next Ensueing the Date hereof 
at the proper Cost & Charge of the said Edward Jaquelin his heires 
and Assignes make do and Suffer or Cause to be made done and 
Suffered all and every Such other Lawfull & reasonable Acts and 
things in the Law for the further & better Barring Extinguishing & 
Releaseing the right Title & Literest of the said Micajah Perry and 
his heires of and to the said Messuage and half Acre of Land or either 
of them as by the said Edward Jaquelin his heires or Assignes his or 
their Council Learned in the Law Shall be reasonably Advised De- 
vised or required so as such other Acts or things do require or Con- 
taine no other Warrants than Against the said Micajah Perry and his 
heires and all Claiming mider him or them. In Wittness whereof the 
said Micajah Perry bv his said Attorney hath hereunto putt his hand 
and Seal this Ninth day of September in the Year of our Lord Christ 
One Thousand Seven Hundred & Twenty One. 

MICAJAH PERRY [Seal] 



Appendix. 265 

At a Court held for James City County September the li^^ 1721 John 
Clayton Esq^' Attorney of Micajah Perry of London Merchant ac- 
knowledged this the said Perrys Deed for Lands &c : unto Edward 
Jaquelin' Gent which at his ]\Iotion is Admitted to record 
Test 

jMichi : Archer CI Con 
Endorsed : 
Perrv's Deed 

' ^° . 
Taquelin 

Brick house on y'^ River. 

Paper Showing William Brodnax's Titles. 

Patent to Will™ Sherwood for 308 Acres in James City Island 1694. 
D" to Plenry Hartwell for 2^ Acres in James Town 1689 sold 
to Will"^ Edwards bv deed bearing date April 1695 & by Edwards 
to WiU"^ Broadnax by Deed 1709 

Patent to J"° Howard for 172 Perches land in James City 1694 begin 

at N E Corner Church Yard & running N. 87 Deg westerly "S^^ 
Chain & 90/100 to N. Bacons Land & along it N. six Chain & 
8/10 to the Comer thereof thence South 85 & V2 Deg. Easterly 
one Chain & half to y"^ great old Road & along y^ same to y^ 
first mentioned Corner 

Bauldwins Patent for 15 & 69 perches in James City Island 4656 bj' 
him given to John Hulcher & by him conveyed to W. Sherwood 
who had it surveyed & took out a new patent Viz .Patent to W. 
Sherwood for 28!'2 Acres at y'' north of J. C. Island which he 
gave by deed to his Nephew John Jarrett 1693 reserve 2 acres & 
he sold to John Howard 1699. & by him sold to John Baird 1710 
together with y'-' Jj Acre granted to y^ said John Howard by 
patent described alcove; Both these Parcels viz v^ half Acre near 
ye Church & y*? 281.-:^ Acres at Block House Hilf sold by Baird to 
Travis 1717, & by Travis to Brodnax 1719 

Patent to Rol)crt Beverlv for 3 Acres i Rood iS: 6 Pole of Land in 
James City 1694 & by him sold to AVilb". Brodnax 1718 for 
no ;£ Ster 

Patent to Edw^^. Ross for 5 Rood & Seven pole at y" head of Pitch & 
Tar Swamp in James City 

Patent to W. May for 100 A. iMarish in J. C. 1667 called Goose hill 

Patent to Briscoe for 12 Acres in J. C. 168.3. 

Chidlei.ghs Deed to Edwards of 127 Pole in J. I. 1696/7 & by him 
assigned to Brodnax 1709 

Baird Deed to Travis for the half Acre near y® Church & 28^-2 xA-cres 
at Block House , Hill 1717 & sold by Travis to Brodna.x in 1719 

37 A. granted by pat to Coll Swan & by Coll Swan Assign^ to Richd 
Holder 1674 & given by Will of said J. Holder to his Sister Ann 
PTolder together with 8 Acres more which were patented by s^ 
Holder in J. C Anne Holder married Briscoe; his Father by 
Will gave all his Lands in J. C & heirs forever; one parcel 
conts a quarter of an Acre in y^ Town Briscoe bought of Tliomas 
Holiday y*^ Extor of James Alsopp, who bought y^' same of John 
Barber 

Bulliuant to Broadnax of 187 A. 1736. 



PRIORITIES. 

First chailer for English colonization in America by Sir Humphrey 

Gilbert, June 1 1, 1678 3 

First English settlement in America, planted by Sir Walter Raleigh 

at Roanoke Island, August 17, 17185 4 

First English child born in America, Virginia Dare, August 18, 

1587 4 

First ship built by Englishmen in America the Virginia, about October, 

1607 8 

First permanent English colony sent by the London company arrives 

at Jamestown Island, May 13, 1607 9 

First landing of the settlers at Jamestown Island, May 14, 1607 30 

First Fort at Jamestown Island, completed June 15, 1607 109 

First essay in farming on James River, May, 1607 31 

First jury trial in America, September 17, 1607 31 

First marriage of English people in the United States, about December, 

1608 33 

First church built by English people in the United States, 1607 I16 

First child born in the first permanent colony of England, Virginia 

Laydon, about October, 1609 33 

First glass manufactory in the United States, 1608 153 

First governor's house at Jamestown, 1608 158 

First well of water at Jamestown, 1609 33 

First blockhouse at Jamestown, 1609 150 

First wharf in Virginia, 161 1 38 

First tobacco raised in Virginia by an Englishman, John Rolfe, 

1612 40 

First Indian in an English colony to be converted to Christianity and 

baptized, Pocahontas, 1613 IIQ 

First marriage in an English colony of white man and Indian, 1614. . 119 

First salt works in an English colony, 1614 254 

The oldest church plate in the United States, 1617 230 

First written constitution for regulating the internal affairs of an 

English colony 42, 121 

First legislative assembly in the Western Continent, 1619 42 

First negro slaves introduced into an English colony, 1619 42 

First windmill in the United States 211 

First silk worms reared in the United States 41 

First duel fought in an English colony, 1624 46 

First peaches grown in English America, 1628 247 

First iron works in English America, 1619 217 

[266] 



Priorities. 267 

First assertion on the continent of America of the principle : " No 

taxation without representation," 1624 53 

First brick house in the United States, Sir John Harvey's — 1630 184 

First state house in the United States, 1630 184 

First revolt against British authority, 1635 ^^^ 

First child born on York River, John West, 1633 227 

First free school established by English people in America, 1635 189 

The oldest tombstone preserved in Virginia, 1637 207 

First idiot child born in Virginia, Benoni Buck I37 

First capitol so called in the United States, 1705 179 

First suggestion of a celebration at Jamestown in 1707 83 

First written State Constitution in the world, June 29, 1776 218 

First professor of law in the United States, George Wythe, 1779 237 

First celebration at Jamestown, 1807 9° 

Naval warfare revolutionized by the battle of the Virginia with the 

Federal fleet, March 8, 1862 -.243 

First battle between iron-clad vessels, March 9, 1862 243 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Island of Jamestown Frontispiece. 

Seal of Virginia Council from 1607 to 1652 On Title Page. 

Queen Elizabeth 3 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert 4 

Sir Walter Raleigh 5 

King James I ,7 

Sir Thomas Smith 8 

Arms of London Company 10 

Indian Village 13 

Portan Bay ; 18 

Indian Werowance 21 

Chart of Jamestown Island, Facing 22 

Jamestown Island from the River 26 

Sea Wall at Jamestown 29 

Captain John Smith 33 

Thomas West, Lord Delaware 37 

Autograph of Sir Thomas Dale 40 

Sir Edwin Sandys 41 

Autograph of George Yardley 43 

Indian Massacre of 1622 44 

Nicholas Ferrar, Jr 45 

Earl of Southampton 50 

William Claiborne 54 

Richard Kempe's Grant 55 

Sir Francis Wyatt's Order for Land 56 

Autograph of Samuel Mathews 61 

Seal of Virginia 63 

Autograph of Nicholas Meriwether 64 

Autograph of Francis Moryson 64 

Autograph of John Knowles 65 

Autograph of Nathaniel' Bacon, Jr 68 

Sir William Berkeley 70 

Lady Berkeley 72 

Meriwether's Deed 77 

Autograph of William Edwards 78 

Autograph of Eliza Edwards 78 

Henry Hartwell's Deed 80 

Col. John Page 81 

Autograph of William Sherwood 82 

Edward Jaouelin and Autograph 84 

[268] 



Illustrations. 269 

Autograph of Richard Ambler 85 

Martha (Cary) Jaquelin 85 

Autograph of William Brodnax 86 

Autograph of Ann Brodnax 86 

Autograph of William Drummond 87 

Autograph of John Ambler 87 

Mary Cary 88 

John Ambler 89 

Autograph of Edward C. Travis 89 

Briscoe G. Baldwin 91 

William B. Rogers 93 

Ambler Brick House •. 94 

Major William Allen 95 

John Tyler 96 

James Barron Hope 97 

Seal of Virginia — George HI 108 

Old Church Tower 117 

Pocahontas 120 

Jamestown Church Service 127 

Letter of Rev. Richard Buck 136 

Rev. James Blair 144 

William and Mary College 147 

James Madison .- 149 

A Block-House ' 151 

George Sandys 155 

A View of the River 157 

Col. Philip Ludwell 159 

Lucy Ludwell 160 

Autograph of Philip Ludwell 160 

Autograph of Philip Ludwell, Jr 161 

Autograph of Sir Henry Chicheley 161 

Autograph of E. Andros 161 

Autograph of Nathaniel Bacon, Sr 162 

Autograph of Francis Nicholson 162 

Autograph of Mary Whaley 162 

State Houses 167 

Sir Thomas Lunsford 170 

Autograph of Thomas Ludwell, Secretary 17^ 

Autograph of William Cole, Secretary I74 

Lucius Cary, Lord Falkland 176 

Autograph of Robert Beverley 178 

The Lone Cypress 180 

Alex.-\nder Spotswood 195 

Chart of James River, Facing 201 

Princess Elizabeth 202 

Upper Brandon, Lower Brandon, Bacon's Castle^ Carter's Grove. . 209 



270 Illustrations. 

Sir John Randolph 223 

Lady Susanna Randolph 223 

Robert Carter 224 

Appomattox, Malvern Hill, Shirley 226 

William Byrd 228 

Communion Cup of Smith's Hundred 230 

Weyanoke, Sherwood, Berkeley and Westover 233 

Richard Martin 236 

Black Beard 249 

Autograph of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bacon 257 

Plat of John Knowles' Tract 258-259 

Plat of William Sherwood's Tract 262 

Micajah Perry 264 



INDEX 



Accomac 69, 254. 

Adams, 192. 

Addison, 192, 241. 

Adkins, 136. 

Aiken's Landing, 221. 

Allen, Arthur, 205, 208; William, 

25, 94. 97. 20s, 255 ; portrait, 95. 
Alsopp, 265. 
Ambergris, 240. 
Amapetough, 12. 
Ambler Family, 83-89. 
Ambler, Edward, 88, 106; John, 23, 
83, 85, 87, 88, 89, 93, lOS, 106, 128, 
129,, 131; autograph, 87; Mary, 
88 ; Richard, 23, 24, 85, 86, 87, 255 ; 
autograph, 85. 
Ambler brick house, 23, 47, 48, 56, 
59, 65, 95, 97, 158, 264; picture 
of, 94- . ^ . 

Ambler manuscripts 17, 59. 65, 70, 

79, 84, 86, 130, 142, 159, 255. 
Amidas, 6. 
Amopotoiske, 18. 
Ampthill, 218. 
Anderson, Leroy, 91. 
Andros, 75, 80, 81, 108, 114, 115, 128, 

162; autograph, 161. 
Anecdotes, 72, 137, 147, 149, 214 232. 
Apachisco, no. 
Apameteku, 14. 

Appomattox (Apamatecoh), 9, 14, 
16, 17, III, 197. 198, 213, 215, 229; 
picture of Appomattox house, 226. 
Appinimoiske, 18. 
Appomosiscut, 18. 
Archer, Gabriel, 9, 15, 100, 109, 202; 

Michael, 265. 
Archer's Hope, 9, 10, 29, 45, 97, 136, 

234. 235. 
Argall, 39, 40, 41. 43, 107, 120, 121, 

122. 158, 207, 213, 228, 232. 
Argall's Gift or Town, 228, 232. 
Arlington, Lord, 172. 
Armistead, 89, 142. 
Arnold, 215. 

Arrohateck, 15, 16, 17, 220. 
Arrohateck's Joy, 15. 
Arundell, 246. 
Ashuaquid, 15. 
Ashetoiske, 18. 



Ashton, 225. 

Association for the Preservation of 

Virginia Antiquities, 26, 98, 126, 

180. 
^.thawes, 87. 
Attanoughkomouck, 21. 
Attosomiske, 18. 
Aylmer, 142. 

Bachelor's Point, 231. 

Back Creek, 74, 75, 76, 257- 

Back River, 22, 23, 24, 29, 38^ 48, 
49, 57, 59, 66, 76, 96, 123, 138, 139> 
150, 151, 152, 189, 234, 248, 261. 

Back Street, 3, 46, 47, 48, 56, 65, 

79, 95- 
Bacon, J. R., 69, 255. 
Bacon, William E., 255. 
Bacon's Castle, 184, 205; picture, 

209. 
Bacon, Elizabeth, 66, 76, 156, 235, 

249, 257. 
Bacon, Nathaniel, Jr., 67-72,^ 78, 82, 

107, IIS, 143, 155, 156, 160, 171, 
173-177, 207, 214, 218, 222, 223, 
227, 228, 231, 249; autograph, 68. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, Sr., 66, 7^, 78, 

108, 124, 156, 161, 162, 177, 205, 
235, 257, 265 ; autograph, 162, 257. 

Bacon's Rebellion, 66-73, 78, 79, 142, 

143, 162, 173-179, 205, 207, 214, 

225, 231. 
Bailev, John, 205; Mary, 49, 205; 

Temperance, 214; Thomas, 171; 

Walter, 248. 
Bailey's Creek, 214. 
Baird, John, 2O5. 

Baldwin, Briscoe G., 91, portrait, 91. 
Baldwin, (Bauldwin), John, 65, 66, 

76, 85, 152, 171, 260, 261, 265. 
Ballard, 156. 

Baltimore, Lord, 53, 54, 166, 247. 
Bancroft 135- 
Bandon, 241. 

Barber, John, 65, 265 ; William, 172. 
Bargrave, 210. 
Barker, 210 211, 213, 218. 
Barlow, 6. 
Barnes, 52. 
Barney, 98, 205, 216. 
[271] 



X 



Index. 



Barret's Ferry, 125. 

Barrington, 105. 

Barroll, 146. 

Ban-on, 250, 253. 

Basse's Choice, 204. 

Bassett, 252. 

Batte Family, 140, 141. 

Bayley, 55. 

Bedford Parish, 163. 

Beggar's Bush (Jordan's Jorney), 

214. 
Bellfield. 61. 

Bennett's Plantation, 204. 
Bennett Family, 204. 
Bennett, Richard, 56, 60, 61, 107, 159, 

169, 170, 174, 178, 186, 203, 204, 

223, 225. 
Bently, 239. 
Berkeley (Berkeley Hundred), 205, 

213, 225, 227, 228; picture of house 
ot, 233. ■ 

Berkeley, Sir William, 49, 57, 58, 60, 
61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 82, 
107, 108, 139, 143, 155, 156, 159.- 

160, 161, 164, 169, 170, 171, 172, 
173, 174, 175, 176, 178, 186, 207, 
211, 213, 218, 220, 223, 225, 227, 
228, 252, 255, 256; portrait, 70; 
autograph, 70. 

Berkeley,- Lady Frances, 62, 129, 

161, 211. portrait, 72. 
Berkeley, John, 217. 
Berkeley, Richard, 225. 
Berkeley, Rev. M., 148. 
Bermuda, 35, 106. 119, 135, 214, 2x5, 

240. 
Bermuda City. 215. 
Bermuda Hundred, 39, 107, 197, 205, 

214, 215, 216, 220, 223, 224, 228. 
Berry, 71, 178, 207, 

Beverley, Robert, 78, 85. 105, 130, 

165, 166, 177. 178, 179, 184, 1 88. 

■189, 191, 265; autograph, 178; 

Ursula, 130. 
Beverley, Historv of Virginia, 11, 

58, 7:1, 165. 184, 185. 188. 189. 
Bickadike, 85. 

Bicker or B3dvar's Creek. 213. 
Birkenhead, it2. 
Blackljeard. (Teach). 249; portrait, 

240. 
Blackbeard Point, 249. 
Blackburn, 227. 
Black Point, 22, 49. 50, 66, 96. 
Blair, Dr. Archibald, 65, 105, 145 ; 

James, y6, 80, 115, 124, 129, 131, 

132. 133, 144, 145, 221; portrait 



144; John, 161; Sarah, 129, 132, 

133- 
Blanchard, C. K., Thomas, 90, 91. 
Bland, Eliza, 48; Giles, 227; James, 

221 ; John, 204, 208, 214, 227, 

228; Mary, 204; Richard, 214, 

224, 228; Sarah, 129, 132, 133; 

Theodorick, 148, 208, 228; 

Thomas, 204; William, 148. 
Blaney, 46, 103, 105. 
Blessing, The, 46. 
Bliss, Colonial Times on Bussards 

Bay, .192. 
Block houses, 34, 38, 46, 150-153. 

154, 179, 261, picture, 151. 
Block house Hill, 24, 27, 84, 152. 

262, 265. 
Blow's Neck, 236. 
Bluett, Caotain, 217. 
Blunt, 37, 245. 

Blunt Point, 37, 238, 239, 240, 245. 
Boiling, 120. 
Bolton,- 138. 
Bonnell Family, 246. 
Booth, Dr. E. G., 237. 
Bossier, 29, 125. 
Boswell. 250. 
Boush, 89. 
Bowler, 113. 
Bowles, 230. 
Bownas, 237. 
Boyle, 143- 
Boys, -236. 

Bradford, 182, 190, 191. 
Brandon, 12, 208, 2io,_ 220, 231,; 

Lower, 209, 210; picture, 209; 

Upper, 209, 2T0 ; picture, 209. 
Bray, 156, 235. 
Bremo, 222. 
Brewer, 238. 
Brewster, 36, 234, 237. 
Brice, 2.^4. 
"Brick House," 71. 
Brick houses, 55, 56, 57, 63. 64, 65, 

66, 67, 78, 79- 
Brick and brickmakers, 38. 56, 63, 

S3, 93, 220, 250. 
Brick kiln, 56. 
A Brief Declaration. 32, 34- 3^- ^21, 

158. 
Briscoe, 79, 265. 
Brissot de Warville, 187. 
Broadrib, 157, 190. 
Broadway, 86, 215. 
Brocas, 56. 
Brodnax, Ann, 86; autograph, 86; 

John, 62, 85 ; Rebecca, 83 ; Robert, 



Index. 



■85; William, 83, 85, 86, 105, 157, 

265 ; autograph, 86. 
Brown, Charles, 193. 
Brown, Genesis of the U. S., 35, 36, 

38, 112, 116, 135, 182. 
Brown, First Republic, 118, 184, 206, 

207. 
Browne, Henry, 207. 
Bruce, Economic History, /3, 154. 
Brumfield. John, 137. 
Bruton Church, 124, 126, 128, 143, 

145, 146, 162, 163. 
Buchanan, 243. 

Buck, 36, 49, 103, 118, 1 19, I2T, 135, 
136, 137, 234, aiitograpli letter, 
136. 

Buckland, 46, 229. 

Buck Roe, 245, 246, 247. 

Bullivant, 179, 263, 265. 

-Bullock, 94, 191. 

Burk, 91, 125. 

Burnaby, 187. 

Burgess, 205. 

Burgesses of Jamestown, 105. 106. 

Burnaby, Andrew, 187. 

Burras, 33, 106, 117, 135. 239. 

Burrows' Hill, 207. 

Burrows, John, 103, 137. 207. 

Bursh, 257. 

Burwell Family, 205; Carter, 236; 
Lewis, 105, 1S4. 204, 205, 235, 236. 

Burwell's Bav, 12, 204, 205. 

Bush, 89. 

Bushrod, 211. 

Butler. 216, 224. 238. 

Byrd, John, 228; AYilliam, 130, 145. 

146, 191, 193, 210, 219, 225, 228, 
portrait. 228. 

Cabell, 190. 

Cabot, I. 2, 6. 

Caesar. 210. 

Calamy. Noiiconfpniiists Memorial, 

Calendar of State Papers. Colonial, 

54, 112, 128, 156, 172, 184. 
Calvert,- George, S3 '• Leonard, 248. 
Call, Reports, 88. 
Campbell, 189. 

Campbell, History of J^irglnia, 14. 
Cape Charles, 201, 254. 
Cape Cod, 181. 
Cape Henry, 9, 12, 154, .201. 
Capitol, The, 162, 179. 
Capps, William, 245, 251. 
Capps' Point, 251. 
Carts and Cartways, 47, 186, 260. 



Carter, 224, 236; Robert's portrait, 

224. 
Carter's Grove, 236; picture of, 

209. 
Gary, Archibald, 218; Henry, 250; 

Mary, 88;' portrait, 88; Martha, 

84; Lucius, 62, 251; portrait, 176; 

Martha, 84; Miles, 171, 252; 

Thomas, 252; Wilson Miles, 88, 

91, 92, 105, 171, 244; William, 84. 
Castle, 65. 
Causey, 225. 
Cavaliers, 59, 62, 63. 
Cavendish, 3, 4, 6. 
Cawsey's Care, 225. 
Caw son's, 215. 
Cecil, 5. 

Ceeley, 239, 244. 
Ceeleys, 88, 91, 244. 
Census of Inhabitants, "100-105, 183, 

184. 
Chaffin's Bluff, 220. 
Challes. 57, 151- 
Challons, 10. 

Chalmers, American Colonics, 184. 
Champion, 82, 134. 
Chanco, 207. 
Chandler, 242. 
Chaplin's Choice, 213. 
Liiapman, 207. 
Chappell's Creek, 213. 
Chappell, Thomas, 213. 
Charles City, 39, 214, 215. 
Charles City Corporation, 197. 
Charles City County, 198, 214. 
Charles Hundred, 39. 
Charles L, i, 52, 54, 60, 61, 201, 214. 

2d2, 251, 252. 

Charles ^River County (York\ 166. 
Charles II., 49, 60, 61, 62, 63, 107, 

T40. 252. 
Charles, Prince, 20T, 214, 254. 
Chastellux, ig6. 21S. 
Chatham, 220. 
Chatsworth. 219. 
Cliawopo. 12. 
Cheriton Creek, 254. 
Chesapeake Bay, -i, 5- it, 17, 32. 

T38, 196, 201. 202, 247. 
Chesapeake Indians, ir, 12, t6. 
Chester, Anthony, 44. 
Chesterfield County, 198, 216. 
Chew. 46, 47- 205- 
Chicheley, 6?„' 73, 108, i6r, 261; 

Sir Henry's autograph, i6t. 
Chickahominy, 15, 16, 17, I97, iqS, 

230, 232. 
Chidleig-h (Chudlcigh), 78, 79, 265. 



274 



Index. 



Chiles, Susannah, 142; Walter, 65, 
-/ 142, 159; Walter, Jr., 65, 66, 79, 
142, 255, 256, 260, 262. 

Chilton, Edward, 55, 65, 78, 112, 
114, 224; Hannah, 224. 

Chippokes Creek, 210 (See Upper 
Chippokes Creek, Lower Chip- 
pokes Creek). 

Chiskiack, (Kiskiack), 16, iii, 186, 

237- 

Chopoke, 12. 

Chuckatuck Creek, 197, 198, 204. 

Chudleigh (Chidleigh), 78, 79, 265. 

Church Review, The, 124. 

Churches, at Henrico, 220 ; at James- 
town, 32, 38, 41, 55, 70, 83, 85, 
95, 128, 1 16-149, 164; St. Mary's 
at Smith's Hundred, 230; at Wil- 
liamsburg, 124, 126, 128, 143, 14s, 
146, 162, 163 ; at Merchant's Hope, 
213; at Elizabeth City, 248; 
Church on the Main, 90, 128, 148, 
149; at Smithfield, 204; at Mul- 
berry Island, 238. 

Church Service, 126, 127, 230. 

City Point, 197, 214, 215, 222. 

Claiborne, William, 43, 48, 52, 54, 
166, 247, 249, portrait, 54. 

Claremont (Clermont), 12, 25, 94, 
205, 208, 222, 231. 

Clarke, Richard, 57, 77. 

Clarkson, 142. 

Clayton, John, 24, 76, 112, 113, 143, 
144, 160, 264, 265 ; Thomas, 75, 
105, 144- 

Clough, John, 133, 143. 

Clovell, 100, no. III. 

Clover Hill Mines, 216. 

Cobb, 20. 

Cobham, 206. 

Cocke, 222, 230. 

Cockburn, 203, 250. 

Coggs, 229. 

Coke, 25, 94. 

Cole, Josiah, 61 ; Susanna, 242 ; 
William, 174, 229, 239, 242, ; 
autograph, 174] Coleman, 155. 

Coleman's Creek, 29. 

College Creek, 205, 206 ; Plantation, 
205. 

College in Virginia, 144, 145, 221. 

Collier, 247. 

Colston, III. 

Columbus, I, 6. 

Confederates, 28, 95, 97, 216, 217, 
220, 221, 244. 

Confederate Signal Station, 220. 

Consress, The. 243. 



Congressional Globe, 196. 

Conjurer's Neck, 215. 

Convicts, 183. 

Cookson, 156, 

Copland, Rev. Patrick, 204, 221. 

Corker, 105, 206. 

Cornwallis, 89, 90. 

Corotoman, 252. 

Cotson, 100, III. 

Cottage, The, 88. 

Cotton, Mrs. Ann, 24, 67, 143. 

Country House, 65, 66, 76, 79, 168^ 

173, 262. 
Council Journal, 24, 81, 145, 250. 
Counties, genesis of early, 198. 
Cox, IS, 

Coxendale, 216, 217, 220. 
Craddock, 84, 254. 
Craney Island, 28, 203, 244. 
Crawford, 203. 
Crews, 156, 223. 
Criminal Code, 194-196. 
Croatoan, 4, 5. 
Cromwell, 61, 139, 140. 
Croshaw, Rev. William, 182. 
Cross at Cape Henry, 9, 202. 
Crouch's Creek, 59,206. 
Crump, 105, 137, 234. 
Culpeper, 184; Alexander, 62, 256 r 

Frances, 160; Lord Thomas, 7Zt 

75, 108, 161, 165, 178. 
Culpeper's Reports, 161, 184. 
Cumberland, The, 243. 
Curls Neck, 68, 175, 215, 222, 223. 
Curtisspeck, The, 255. 
Custis, 70. 

Dale, Sir Thomas, 38, 39, 40, 45, 50, 
97, 106, 107, 137, 150, 182, 197, 
214, 215, 216, 220, 221, 224, 24s, 

254- 
Dale's Gift, 254, Parish, 216. 
Dance, 232. -^ 

Dancing Point, (Dance's), 208, 231, "^^ 

232. 
Dandridge, Martha, 143. 
Danvers, Sir John, 40. 
Dare, 4. 
Davis, James, 36, 251; John, 3, 6; 

Thomas, 208. 
Day, 204. 
Day's Point, 204. 
Deacon, 227. 
Deep Creek, 239. 
Delaware, Lady, 120; Lord, 20, s6r 

37, 38, 41, 54, 106, 118, 120, 121^ 



Index. 



^7S 



135, 168, 183, 224, 227, 237, 239, 

243, 245, portrait, Z7- 
Denbigh, (Denbie), 61, 166, 238, 

239; Parish, 240. 
Deliverance, The, 35, Z^> 240. 
Depasse, 120. 
Derby (Digby), 156. 
De Vries, Voyages, 182, 242. 
Dew, 203. 

Digby (or Derby), 156. 
Digges, 61, 66, 107, 239, 242, 260. 
Digges' Hundred, 215. 
Dinwiddie, 125, 184, 253. 
Discovery, The, 9, 30. 
Dismal Swamp, 203. 
Douthat, 230. 
Dowse, 220. 
Dragon Swamp, 69. 
Drake, 3, 4, 6, 9, 181. 
Drayton, 212. 
Drew, 212. 
Drewry's Bluff, 217. 
Drummond, Lake, 203. 
Drummond, Sarah, 68, 207; Wil 

liam, 67, 68, 70, 71, 86, 87, 113, 

207, autograph, 87. 
Duke, 249. 
Dungenness, 223. 
Dunlop, 192. 
Dunmore, 203. 
Dunn, 62. 
Durand, 139. 
Durant, 235. 

Durfey, 25, 94, 115, 126, 255. 
Dutch Gap, 15, 220, 221. 
Dutch invade Virginia, 68, 112, 252. 

Eastern View, 219. 

Eaton, 189. 248. 

Education in Virginia, 189-194. 

Edwards, Eliza, 78, 130, autograph, 
78; William, 78, 79, 80, 130, 265, 
autograph, 78. 

Eggleston, 157. 

Elay (Ely), 59, 260. 

Ellegood, 246. 

Eliot, 193. 

Elliot, 142. 

Elizabeth City County Records, 
250. 

Elizabeth City Corporation, 197, 
241-248. 

Elizabeth City County, 140, 198, 
250. 

Elizabeth, Queen, 3, 4, portrait, 3. 

Elizabeth, Princess, 202, 245, por- 
trait, 202. 

Elizabeth River, 202, 203. 



Elizabeth River Parish, 139. 
Elizabeth City Parish, 250. 
Eltonhead, 161. 
Emigrants to Virginia, 100-105, 

Character of, 181-184. 
England, i, 2, 4, 51, 188, 195. 
English, William, 166. 
Eppes, 215. 
Ericsson, The, 96. 
Everett, Edward, 95. 

Fairfax, 49, 88, 135, 234. 

Falkland, Lord, 62, 176, 251; 
portrait, 176. 

Falls of James River, 14, 15, 17, 30, 
33, 218. 

Falling Creek, 217, 220. 

Farrar's Island, 197, 216, 220, 221, 
222. 

Farrell, 113. 

Ferdinand V, King, i. 

Ferrar (Farrar), John, 40, 42, 154; 
Nicholas, Jr., 40, 42, portrait, 45 ; 
William, 166, 168, 214, 220. 

Ferry, 59, 86, 87. 

Fiske, Old Virginia and her Neigh- 
bours, 69. 

Fitchett, 65, 87, 155. 

Fitch, III. 

Fitt, 234. 

Fitzhugh, 219. 

Flint, 238. 

Flower de Hundred, 14, 211, 212, 
213, 227, 230. 

Fontaine, James, 145; John, 83, 
250; Peter, 145. 

Force, tracts, 24, 60, 67, 76, 160, 165, 
174, 184, 188, 195. 

Forrest, 33, 117, I35- 

Forth, 162. 

Forts, at Jamestown, ist. 30, 32, 35, 
36, 37, 109; 2nd. 65, 79> 112, 264; 
3rd." 78, 83, 93, 113- 114; Confed- 
erate, 78, 95, 112; at Elizabeth 
City, Charles, 38, 112, 245; Henry, 
38, 112, 245; at Point Comfort, 
Algernourne, George, Monro, 112, 
251-254 at Henrico; Patience, 
Charity. Elizabeth. 217; at Rip 
Raps, ' Calhoun, Wool, 253 ; at 
Norfolk, Nelson, 91 ; at James 
River Falls, West, 219; at Gray's 
Creek, Fort Smith, 34, 206. 

Foster, Oxford Matriculates, 138, 
142. 

Four Mile Creek, 221. 

Four Mile Tree, 12, 29, 207. 

Fowler, 234. 



^76 



Index. 



Fowler's Neck, 234. 

Fowke. 172. 

Fox, 62. 

French Huguenots, 14. 

"Frigsfett Landing," 24, 27, 57, 171. 

Frobisher, Sir Martin, 3, 4, 6. 

Fulcher, John, 'j^i, 261. 

•Garclens,_ 47. 53. 235. 

Gardiner's Island, 15. 
'Gates, 34, 35- Z^- Z7^ 38, 39, 4i, 43, 
50. 106, 107, 118, 119, 13s, 137, 150, 
151. 158, 207, 216, 219, 220, 237, 
240, 245. 

Gatesvilie. 216. 

General Court Records, 113, 142. 

Gibbs, 211. 

Gift of God, The, 236. 

Gilbert, Bartholomew, 10; Sir Hum- 
phrey, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13s, por- 
trait, 4. 

Giles, 227. 

Gillee's Creek, 219. 

Gilliam. 115, 255. 

Girardin. 25. 26, 64, 125, 223. 

Glass house, 45, I53-I57- 

Gloucester, 69, 142, 143,' 193. 

Gloucester Point, 71. 

Glover, 137. 

Godspeed, The 8, 30. 

Godwin, 141. 

Gondomar, 51, 112. 

Gooch. 145, 253. 

Goode's Creek, 69, 218. 

Gookin, 241, 242, 244. 

Goose Hill, 22, 28, 50, 66, 265. 

Gosnold, 7, 9, 10, 31, 100, no. 

Gough. 143, 261. 

Governor's House, 43, 158, 163. 

Governor's Land, 26, 232. 

Governor's Garden, 47. 

Government, 198, 199. 

Granada, i. 

Grant, Gen. LT. S., 215, 216. 
O Graves, 230.^^ 

Gray. 206. 

Grav's Creek, 29, 34, 206. 

Great Bridge. 203. 

"Great Gust," The, 68, 185, 205. 

Create Roade, 170. 

Green, 140, 14T, 165. 

Greenspring, 26, 60, 71. "JS, 90, 131, 
156, 159, 160, i6t, 169. 

Greenway, 23T. 

Grendon, 225. 

Grindall, 50. 

Grove, 235. 

Grvnies. 208. 



Gulstone, 45. 
Gurgany, 222, 232. 

liackwood, 85. 

Hakluyt, Richard, 9, 135. 

Hall, Amy, 234; Ann, 86; Christo- 
pher, 234 ; J. L., 98, 124. 

Hall, Jamestozvn, History and Pres- 
ent Condition, 124. 

Hamlin, 212. 

Hammond, 62, 188, 191, 195, 252. 

Hamor, 38, 39, 41, 45, 46, 47, 103, 
119, 151, 191, 245. 

Hamor, True Diseoursc, 38, 119, 
158. 

Hampton, Thomas, 56, 57, 122, 123, 
138, 139, 169; William, 138. 

Hampton Parish, 142. 

Hampton Town, 187, 231, 249, 250, 
251. 

Hampton River, 9, 16, 38, 202, 243, 

251- 
Hampton Roads, 99, 198, 202, 244, 

245. 

Hanham, 10. 

Hansford, 62. 

Harding, William, 194. 

Flardiman, 21 T. 

Harmer, 56, 257. 

Harris, 65, 87, i55, 222, 225, 227. 

Harrison, Anne, 220; Benjamin, 
130, 133, 145, 220, 227; George, 
46; Hannah, 133; Jeremiah, 62; 
Nathaniel, 208, 210, 213; Sarah, 
145; Thomas, 139; William 
Henry, 227; William, 74, 75, 

234- 

Harrison's Landing, 227. 

Harrop, 236. 251. 

Hartwell, Henry, 79, 80, 10=; 112, 
26s, deed by, 80; Jane, 79, 80. 

Hartwell, Blair and Chilton, Pres- 
ent State of Virginia, 65, 112. 

Flarvard College, 192, 210. 

Harvey, Elizabeth, 211; John, 46, 
47- 54, 55, 56. 57, 58, 107, 123, I5S, 
159, 166, 168, 1S4, 211, 229, 234, 
2i8, 251. 
^Harwood. 138, 168, 230, 236. 

Hawkins. 2, 4, 6, 181. 

Hening, Statutes at Large. 8, 34, 
52, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63, 64. 71, 73, 
Si, 123, 137, 140, 159, 164, 165, 
169, 172, 194. 252. 

Henrico, 39, 106, 170, 189. 217. 220, 
221, 222, 237. 

Henry. Prince of Wales, 201, 220. 

Henrv, Patrick Henry, 200. 



Index. 



Herring Creek, 228. 

Heyman, 249. 

Hey ley, 238. 

Higginson, 160, 235. 

Hill, Edward, 224, 256; Elizabeth, 

224; Hannah, 224; Mary, 211; 

Nicholas, 204 ; Silvestra, 204 ; 

Thomas, 55, 211. 
Hinton, 211, 239. 
Historical Summaries, 6, 10, 106- 

108. 
Hog Island, 29, 36, 205, 230. 
Holder, 78, 79, 265. 
Holland, 49. 
J-Iolliday, 79, 265. 
Holt, 205. 
Homewood, 205. 
Hone, Theophilus, /S, 105, 113, 142, 

173- 
Honeyvvood, 62. 
Hooe, 211. 
Hooke, 248, 251. 
Hopkins, 263. 

Hope, James Barron, 95, por- 
trait, 97. 
Hopley, 26. 
Horton, 189. 
Hotten, Emigrants to America, 33, 

48, 118, 136, 155. 
Hough, 240. 
Houses, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 43, 

45, 47. 57, 63, 67, 160, 184-186. 
Howard, John, 78, 85, 128, 265. 
Howard, Lord, 4. 6, 75, 108, 161, 

178. ; 

Howe, Historical Collections, 203. 

Hoivlett's House, 221. 

Hulcher, 'John, 265. 

Hungar's Creek, 254. 

Hunt, Robert, 9, 100, 116, 134, 135; 

Thomas, 65, 171 ; William, 231. 
Hunt. Fragments of Revolutionary 

History, 89. 
Hutchings, 89, 134. 
Hutchinson, 57, 169, 191. 

Indian Fields, 16. 

Indian House Thicket, 247. 

Indians : Tribes along James River, 
ii-2i;.war with, 30, 35, 39, 43, 
50, 68; massacres by, 43, 44, 58, 
107, 151, 212, 217, 219, 225, 227, 
231, 234, 240, 246, 247 ; peace with, 
31, 43, 58, 72 ; village, picture of, 
13 ; werowance, picture of, 21. 

Ingram, 71, 

Ironworks, 217. 

Isabella, Queen, i. 



Island House, 47, 49, 176, 257, 260. 
Isle of Wight County, 198, 204,. 

205. 
Isham Family, 223. 
Istan, 19. 
Itopatin, 19. 

Jackson, 47, 105, 236. 

James I., 7, 10, 52, 119, 220, 245, 
portrait, 7. 

James, Rachel, 82, 84 ; Richard, 24, 
'^6, 73, 76, 82, 84, 92, 171, 260, 261 ;. 
Thomas, 139. 

James, Lozver Norfolk County Anti- 
quary, 92, 139. 

James City County, 198, &c. 

James City Corporation, 197, 207. 

James City Parish, 147, 148. 

Jameson, Historical JJ'''rifi)igs in 
America,. 191, 199. 

Jameson. Professor, 199. 

James River: Indians along, 11-21: 
depth of, 28 ; places along, 201- 
254 ; views of homes on, 209, 226, 
233 ; chart of, opposite to page 
201. 

Jamestown: English at, 10, 30-108; 
chart of Island, opposite to page 
22 ; the Island of, 22-29 ! names 
of settlers, 100-105 ; burgesses of, 
105, 106; forts, 30, 32, 35, 36, 37, 
65, 78, 79, 83, 93, 95, 112, 113, 114; 
powder magazine, 28, 93, 114, 115, 
128; church, 32, 38, 41, 55, 70, 83, 
85, 95, 128, 1 16-149, 164; church 
tower, 23, 91, 95, 98, 125, picti-1-e, 
117; church plate, 126, 127, piu . 
turc, 127; font. 128; churchyard, 
128, 129; tombstones, 129-134; 
ministers. 134-149; blockhouses, 
34, 38, 46, 150-154, 179. 261, pic- 
ture, 151 ; glass house, 45, IS3-I57, 
governor's house, 43. 158-163 ; 
State houses, 22, 58, 7S, 108, 123, 
152, 158, 164,-180, 263 picture, 167; 
Ferry, 59, 86; market, 59, 86; 
descriptions of, 38, 67; burned, 
32, 71, 81, 107; views of, frontis- 
piece, 26; view of seawall, 29; 
plats of land. 258, 259, 262; cele- 
brations at, 83, 90, 92, 94, 98, 99; 
marriages at, 33, 43, 117, 119; 
prominent men buried at, Gosnold, 
Hunt, Yeardley, Opechancanough, 
Sherwood, Dr. James Blair, Wil- 
liam Lee, Edward Jaquelo, John 
Ambler, Edward Ambler; park, 
48; gardens, 47, 53, 86; brick kiln. 



278 



Index. 



56; wharves, 38, 97, 255; bridge, 
97; causeway, 24, 25, 255; wells, 
33, 38, 93; tobacco, cultivated, 
40, 119; African slaves, 42; first 
general assembly, 42, 121 ; popu- 
lation, 45 ; new towne, 23 silk 
worms, 49, mulberry trees, 49; 
linen factory, 58 ; cavaliers, 59, 62, 
63 ; town government, 74 ; James- 
town weed, 72; country houses, 
65, 66, 76, 79, 168, 173, 262, sur- 
rendered to Parliament, 60; con- 
vention of clergy, 75, UA', the fire 
flies, 143; sycamore tree, 129; 
capital removed to Williamsburg, 

8i- ^, J 

Taquelin family, 84, 85; Edward, 
23, 83, 84, 86, 105, 112, 128, 264, 
26s, portrait, 84; Martha, 84, 128, 
portrait, 85. 

Jaquelin-Ambler house, 23, 47, 4°, 
56, 59, 65, 95, 97, 158, 264. 

Jarrett, 84, 86, 264, 265. 

Jarvis, 249. 

Jefferson, John, 211; Thomas, i»3, 
igo, 211, 224. ^ , 

Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 184, 
192. 

Jeffreys, Jeffrey, 73, §4; Herbert, 7h 
73, 108, 161, 178, 207. 

Jenings, 63, 82. 

Jerdone, 187. 

Johnson, Alderman, 51; Ann, 66, 
82; Elizabeth, 235; James Bray, 
235 ; John, 49, 66, 104 ; Philip, 235. 

Joh-aston, Joseph E., 96, 244. 

T nes, Catesby, 96, 243; Hugh, 83, 
146, 187, 191, 193; Peter, 215; 
Roger, 242; Rowland, 143; Sam- 
uel, 141, 142; William, 49. 

Jones's Neck, 197, 215, 216, 221. ^ 

Jones, President of State of Vir- 
ginia, 83. 

Jordan, Alice, 207; Cecily, 187, 214; 
George, 207; Samuel, 214, 215. 

Jordan's Jorney (Beggar's Bush), 
214, 224. 

Kaintu, 12. 

Kaquothocum, 14. 

Kecatough, 16. 

Kccoughtan (Kikotan), 9, 15, 16, 

31, 38, 240, 245-250. 
Keith, 198, 237; George, 145, 237, 

248. 
Kempe, Richard, 23, 55, 56, 57, 65, 

79, 86, 107, 159, 25s, 256, 262, 

jbicture of deed, 55- 



Kendall, 9, 31, 100, no, 172. 

Kennedy, 250. 

Kennon, 215. 

Kenwan (Kettiwan), 229. 

Kent Island, 54, 166. 

Key, Thomas, 239. 

Kimage's Creek, 225. 

King, 217; Henry, 189. 

King's Creek, 71, 139, 161, 227, 254. 

Kingsmill's Creek, 22, 49, 66, 76, 

257. 
Kingsmill, Elizabeth, 235 ; Richard, 

47, 49, 66, 76, IDS, 234, 235, 257. 
Kingsmill Neck, 235 ; Plantation, 

234, 235. 
Kirkeman, 142. 

Kiskiacke, 237 (see Chiskiack). 
Knight, Edward, 155; John, 130; 

Mary, 130; Peter, 59, 204. 
Knowles, John, 65, 66, 76, 139, 255, 

257, 258, 259, 260, 262, avitograph, 

65, 260. 

La Fayette, 90. 

La Guard, 246. 

Lake Drummond, 203. 

Lane, 3, 4, 6. 

Langston, 62. 

Laughing King, 254. 

Lawne, Christopher, 205. 

Lawne's Creek (Lion's Creek), 145, 

198, 205. 
Lawne's Plantation, 205. 
Lawrence, 67, 70, 71, 73, 78, 105, 1 13, 

162, 175. 
Laydon, 33, 100, 106, 117, 118, 135, 

239- 
Lee, Anne Hill, 224 ; "Light Horse" 

Harry, 224; Richard, 193, 256; 

Sarah, 81 ; Robert E., 97 ; 222, 

224; Mrs. R. E., 220; William, 

93, 128, 129, 131, 161. 
Le Neve, Rev. William, 146, 147. 
Lewis Family, 230. 
Ley, 107. 

Libraries 193, 228. 
Lighthouse, 201. 
Lightfoot, 50,231, 232. 
Limbrye, 39. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 215. 
Linen, manufacture of, 58. 
Lister, 212. 
Little England, 251. 
Little Powhatan, 15, 219. 
Littletown, 46, 166, 168, 188, 235. 
London Company, 7, 8, 10, 34, 40, 

42, 43, 45, 51, 52, 53, 107, 124, 126, 

140, 144, 154, 158, 181, 193, 198. 



Index. 



279 



199, 202, 213, 217, 218, 220, 225, 
229, 230, 232, 236, 240, 241, 245; 
arms of, 10. 

London Magazine, Itinerant's Ob- 
servations ill America, 187. 

Lone Cypress, The, 23, 27, 114, 180; 
view of, 180. 

Longfield, 222. 

Lossing, Field book of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, 25, 114. 

Lower Chippokes Creek, 205, 206. 

Lower Norfolk County, 139, 198. 

Lowry, 250. 

Loyd, 227. 

Lucas, 172. 

Ludwell, 161, 191 ; Frances, 129, 
160; portrait, 72; Hannah, 133; 
Hannah Philippa, 164; Lucy, por- 
trait, 160; Philip, 26, 160, 177, 
178, 179. autograph, 160, po trait, 
159; Philip, Jr., 78, 105, 130, 133, 

161, 173, autograph of, 161 ; 
Thomas, 64, 66, 160, 170, 171, 172, 
173, 178, 191, autograph, 172. 

Lunsford, Sir Thomas, 62; portrait, 
170. 

Lynnhaven Bay, 202. 

Mace, 6. 

Macock (Mavcock), 212. 

MacAllester Historical Contribu- 
tions, 48. 

Madison. James. 29, 91, 148, 149. 
portrait, 149; John, 91. 

Main, the, 8, 29, 45, 83, 125, 128, 

149, 157. 
Mair's Bookkeeping, 196. 
Mallory Family, 62, 140, 141, 162. 
Malvern Hill, 184, 222, 227; picture 

of house at 226. 
Manakins (Monacans), 14. 
Mannatowick, 17. 
Manufactures, 195, 196. 
Mapsoc (Mapsaco), 229. 
Marable, 157, 264. 
Marin Hill, 219. 
Market Place, 59, 83. 
Marriages, 33, 43, 117, 119. 
Marshall, Lucy, 89 ; John, 89, 224. 
Margaret, The, 225. 
Margaret and John, The, 234. 
Marston Parish, 141. 
Martian, Nicholas, 166. 
Martin, Dorcas, 210; John, 9, 100, 

no, 164, 208, 210; Richard, 210, 

236. portrait, 236. 
Martin's Brandon, 145, 164, 210. 
Martin's Hundred, 143, 232, 236. 



Maryland, 53, 54, 60, 68, 139, 146. 
166, 185, 201, 206, 248. 

Mary's Mount, 240, 241. 

Mason, 119, 202. 

Mason's Creek, 202. 

Massachusetts Hist. Society's Col- 
lections, 42, 212. 

Massachusetts, education in, 192. 

Mathews, Elizabeth, 211; Frances, 
239; John, 239; Samuel, 61, 107, 
166, 168, 211, 238, 239, 251, 
autograph, 61 ; Thomas, 196. 

Mathomank, 12. 

Mattapony, 11. 

Mattapanient, 17. 

Matoaka, 120. 

Matoax, 215. 

Maurice, Prince, 62. 

Maury, Huguenot Emigrants, 83, 
114, 146, 250. 

May, 6^, 66, 77, 79, 142, 260, 262, 
265. 

Maycock, (Macock) 208, 212. 

Maycock's Plantation, 212. 

May-Rower, The, 212. 

Maynard, 249. 

Mayo, William, 219. 

McClellan, George B., 222, 224, 227. 

McCreary, 92. 

McDonald Papers, 178. 

Meade, 125, 128, 145, 212. 

Meade, Old Churches, &c., 26, 88, 
128. 148. 

Meadowville, 216. 

Mease, 45, 245. 

Menifie, (Menify), 46, 55, $6, 103, 
105, 166, 168, 229, 235. 

Mercer, Thomas, 229. 

Merchant's Hope, 210, 213. 

Meriwether, Francis, 76, 80; picture 
of deed, 77; Jane, 79; Nicholas, 
64, 66, 76, 77, 79, 257, 260, 
autograph, 64. 

Merrimac, The, 203 ; see The Vir- 
ginia. 

Merry Mount, 241. 

Merry Point. 241. 

Meyers, E. D T., 96, 97. 

Middle Plantation, 69. 71, 81, 124, 
125, 137, 143, 161, 186, 234. 

Miles, 207. 

Mill Creek, 29, 245, 253. 

Milton, 231. 

Mimeoughquiske, 18. 

Minge, 231. 

Ministers at Jamestown, 134-149. 

Minnesota, The, 243. 

Mokete, 12, 204. 



280 



Index. 



Mole, Samuel. 169. 

Molesworth, Gu}', 62. 

Molina, 39, 112. 

Monitor, The, 96, 217, 243, 244. 

Moody, 63. 

Moon's free school, 189. 

Moore, Tom, 203. 

Morton, 9, 202. 241. 

Morton's Bay, 202. 

M'oryson, 191; Charles, 252; Fran- 
cis, 62, 63, 64, 71, 107, 126, 127, 
155, 170, 178, 191, 207, 252, 
a.utograph, 64; Letitia, 251; Rich- 
ard, 62, 248, 251, 252; Robert, 62, 
252. 

Mt. Malado, 217. 

Mulberry Island, 36, 146, 147, 237, 
238. 

Mulberry Trees, 49. 

Munford, 230. 

Murray, Alexander, 62. 

Nansemond, 138, 141, 197, 198, 202, 

203, 212, 230, 252. 
Nansemond Indians, 12, 16, 240. 
Naseway Shoals, 204. 
Natick, 15. 
Naugatiick, The, 244. 
Neck of Land, 29, 45, 151, 215, 216, 

220, 221, 234. 
Necotowance, 19, 58. 
Neill, 48. 

Neill, London Company, 39, 45, I54- 
Neill, Virginia Carolorum, 6[, 64, 

138, 141, 142. 
Neill. Virginia Vctnsta, 136, 138, 

155. 158. 
Nelson, 32, 106. 
Nestell 90. 
New England Hist, and Gen. 

Mag., 171. 
Newfoundland, i. 2, 3. 
Newce, 241, 246, 247. 
Newcestown, 241. 
Newell. 76, 79. 
New England, 188, 190, 191, 192, 

200. 
New Norfolk County, 138, 198. 
Newport, Christopher, 9, 21, 30, 31, 

32, 33, 106, no, 116, 153, 218; 

Thomas, 21. 
Newport News. 22, 197, 198, 240- 

244. 
Newstead, 220. 
Newton, 91, 92, 206. 
New Town Haven River, 204. 
New Towne, 23, 39, 43, 46, 48, 49, 

50, 54, 56, 65, 66, 76, 78, 79, 95, 



158, 168, 169, 173', 259, 262. 
Nibley Papers, 225. 
Nicholson, Francis, 14, 75, 80, 81, 

83, 108, 161, 162, 249; autograph, 

162. 
Nonsuch, 219. 
Norfolk, 188, 202, 203, 243. 
Norfolk County, 198. 
Norsworthy (Nosory), 204. 
Northampton County, 70. 
Northern Neck, 193. 
Norton, 89, 154. 
Nosory (see Norsworthy),- 204. 
Norwood, 191, 252. 
Nutmeg Quarter, 239, 240. 

Oakland, 246. 

Occaneeches, 68, 173. 

O'Connor, 90. 

Official Records of the Union and 

Confederate Navies, 96, 243. 
Oholasc, 12. 

Old Dominion Land Company, 180. 
Old Great Roade, 46, 48, 176, 262,: 

263. 
Old Plantation Creek, 254. 
Old Town. 12, 203, 204. 
Omoone, 87. 
O'Neil, 240. 
Opechancanough, 16, 19, 43, 58, 

107. 115, 160, 174, 229. 
Opitchapan, 16, 19. 
Opussoquionuske, Queen, 14. 
Orapaks, 17. 
Orchards, 257, 263. 
Orchard Run, 22, 46, 48, 59, 75, 78,- 

79.. 97- 
Orgain, 94. 
Ortoughnoiske, 18. 
Osborne, 52, 104, 169. 
Osborne's, 216. 
Ottahotin, 16. 
Ottaniack, 17. 
Ottermiske. 18. 
Ottopomtacke, 18. 
Owen, Goronwy. 191. 
Oweroughwough, 18. 
Oysters. 34. 

Pace, 207, 208, 212, 229. 

Pace's Pains, 29, 207, 208, 212, 229,. 

Pagan River, 12, 204. 

Page, Elizabeth, 156; Francis, 179; 
John, 79, 86, 156, 162. 205, por- 
trait, 81; Lucy, 205; Mary, 162; 
Matthew, 113, 162. 

Pamunkey, 11, 16, 17, 19, 69, 175, 
186; Queen of, 19, 174, 



Index. 



281 



Parahunt, 15, 219. 

Paramor, Robert, 52. 

Parson's Creek, 213. 

Parteridge, 257. 

Partin, 248. 

Passbyhaes, 169. 

Paspahegh, 10, 11, 15, 16, 31, 109, 

no, HI, 153, 208, 231, 232. 
Paspahegh Old Fields, 69, 155, 208. 
Passmore, Thomas, 22, 149, 103. 
Passmore's Creek, 22, 50, 51, 66, 

88, 96. 
Passpeiouk, 15. 
Pate, 71, 143, 156, 204. 
Patesfield, 204. 
Patience, The, 35, 36, 240. 
Paule, 57. 

Pawlett, 225, 227, 228, 232. 
Peaches, at Elizabeth CitJ^ 247 ; at 

Littletown, 235. 
Peale, 225. 
Peasley, 189. 

Peirce, (Pearce, Perce), Jane, 
(Jone), 102, 119, 237; William, 
23, 45, 47. S3, 56, J02, 112, 119, 
155, 237, 238, 256. 
Peirce's (Persey's) Hundred (als 
Flowerdue Hundred), 211. 212. 
Peirse, 121. 

Peirsey, Abraham, 47, 50, 211, 230, 
239; Elizabeth, 211; Frances, 211, 
239; Mary, 211. 
Pembroke Farm, 248, 250. 
Pepiscumah, 12. 
Peppet, 238. 
Percy, 9, 31, 34, 38, 100, 106, 109, 

112, 153, 251. 
Percy, Discourse, 31. 
Perkins, 85, 86. 
Perry, 103, 207, 208, 228, 229, 263, 

264, . 265. 
Perry, papers relating to the Church 

in Virginia, 115, 146, 147, 162. 
Perez, 39. 
Petersburg, 215. 
Petsworth Parish, 142. 
Pettus, 235. 
Phillip II., I. 
Phillips, General. 215. 
Phillips, Career of the Virginia, 244. 
Phipps, 65, 155, 257, 260. 
Phoenix, The, 32, 106. 
Pianketank, 16. 
Pickett, 224. 
Pilg-rim Fathers, 181. 
Pinke, 49. 
Pioisco, 12. 
Pipsico, 12. 



Pirates, 249. 

Pitch and Tar Swamp, 22, 23, 28, 

46, 47, 49, SI, 66, 76, 113, 114, 

152, 171, 179, 257, 260, 261, 265. 
Plantations across the water, 29, 

206. 
Plymouth Company, 7, 8, 10. 
Plymouth Settlement, 181. 
Pocahontas, 18, 20, 31, 32, 39, 43, 

107, 119, 120, 128, 13s, 160, 206, 

221 ; portrait, 120. 
Pochins, 16, 38, 245. 
Pocosin River, 189. 
Point Comfort, 36, 38, 39, 113, 201, 

243, 248, 251, 252, 253. 
Point Hope, 241. 
Pollentine, 220. 
Political conditions, 197-200. 
Political divisions, 107. 
Poole, 137, 238, 246. 
Pooley, 214. 
Ponnoiske, 18. 
Poropotank Creek, 71, 143. 
Portan Bay, (Poetan or Powhatan 

Bay). 17, picture of, 18. 
Portsmouth, 90, 202, 203. 
Pory, 42, 48, 121, 164, 251. , 
Pott, Francis, 166, 168, 251 ; John, 

45, 47, S3, 54, 66. 103, 107, 159, 

166, 168, 234, 251. 
Potomac. 201. 
Powder Magazine, 28, 93, 114, 115. 

128. 
Powell. Ensign, 153, 154; John. 

138; Nathaniel, 107, 213; Thomas, 

213; William, 45, 46, 105. 112, 138, 

232. 
Powell Brook, 210. 
Powell's Creek, 14, 208, 212, 213. 

229. 
Powhatan, Country, 17; Creek, 24. 

29, 90, 234; River, 17, 66] Swamp, 

160. 
Powhatan's Tree, 160. 
Pozvhafan, The, 92. 
Powhatan. 5, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 

18, 19, 21, 31, 37, 43, 107, 119, 153, 

218, 219, 232, 254. 
Powhatan, Little, 15. 
Poythress. 120, 211. 
Prescott. Edward, 68. 
Presque Isle, 223. 
Preston. 147, 148. 
Prince George County, 198, 214. 
Princess Anne County, 198. 
Pring, Martin, 7, 10. 
Pritchard, 240. 
Proctor's Creek, 15, 217. 



282 



Index. 



Pryor, 148. 

Pure has, His Pilgrims, 30. 37, 109, 

119. 
Puritans, 60, 139, 190. 
Puspatick, 15. 
Puttock, 154. 
Pyping Point, 24. 

Quakers. 61, 142, 237. 
Queen's Creek, 229, 234. 
Quincy, 210, 213. 
Quiyoughcohanock, 12, 14, 15, 16, 

208. 
Quiyoughquisock, 14. 

Ragged Islands, 204. 
Raleigh, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 135; por- 
trait of, 5. 
Raleigh Tavern, 92. 
Randolph Family, 183, 218-224; 
Edmund, 200, 224; Henry, 170, 
171, 220, 224; John, 120, 215, 
222, 223 ; Sir John's portrait, 223 ; 
Richard, 25, 93, 114, 115, 125, 
179; Lady Susanna's portrait, 
223 ; William, 219-224. 

Randolph MSS._, 66. 

Randolph, Writings of Jefferson, 
183. 

Rappahannock, 12. 161, 201, 208. 

Ratcliffe, 9, 31, 32, 100, 106, no, 
158, 251. 

Ravenscroft, 212. 

Rebecca, 120. 

Restoration, The, 61, 62. 

Ricahecreans, 175. 

Rich, Sir Robert, 40, 119. 

Rich Neck, 160. 

Richardson, 210. 

Richmond, 17, 218. 

Richmond Standard, 88. 

Richmond, Enauirer, 92. 

Riedesel. Memoirs of the Revolution, 

193- 
Ringfield, 184. 
Rip Raps, 253. 
Rix, 65. 
Roads, 186-188. 
Roanoke, i, 3, 5, 6, 17, 68, 120, 141, 

222. 
Roanoke, The 243. 
Robins, 240. 

Robinson, Jehu, 31 ; Mary, 230. 
Robinson's Abstracts of Council 

Proceedings, 168. 
Rockahock, 186. 
Royal Society of England, 143, 144, 

228. 



Rochedale Creek, 216. 

Rochedale Hundred, 215. 

Rocketts, 219. 

Rock Wharf, 204. 

Rogers, William Barton, 92, pot 
trait, 93. 

Rolfe, Anthony, 120; Bermuda, 135; 
Elizabeth, 46, 119; Henry, 120; 
Jane, 45, 46, 120, 237; John, 39, 
40, 43, 45, 107, 119, 120, 13s, 191, 
221, 237, 238; Thomas, 120, 206, 
221. 

Rolfe, Relation, 39. 

Rolfe's Creek, 206. 

Rookins, 205. 

Roosevelt, President, 98, 99. 

Rosegill, 161. 

Rosewell, 205. 

Ross, 86, 114, 263, 265. 

Rossinsfham, 211. 

Row, The, 231. 

Sadler, 210, 213. 

Sal ford's Creek, 244. 

Salt Works, 254. 

Salter's Creek, 244. 

Sanders, 57, 151. 

Sandy Bay, 24, 2,^, 69, 152. 

Sandy Point, 15 198, 231, 232. 

Sandy, Sandys, Sir Edwin, 9, 40, 

42, 47. SI, 52, 154, ISS, 158, 217, 

230; George, 47, 51, 102, 154, 155, 

IQI, 206, 217, 325, portrait, 155; 

Margaret, 158. 
Sanford, 190. 

Sarah Constant, The, 8, 30. 
Sasenticum, 12. 
Sassapen, 19. 
Saunders, 90, 92, 148. 
Savage, 21, 254. 
Savage's Neck, 254. 
Savbrooke Fort, 15. 
Schools, 157, 162, 163, 189, 191, 214, 

248. 
Scotland Wharf, 206. 
Scott, ^7. 

Scrivener, 32, loi, 116. 
Sea Venture, The, 34, 35, 50, 240. 
Seal of Virginia, 6^, 108, picture of, 

title page, 63, 108. 
Seawell, 202. 
Selden, 219. 
Semple, 92. 
Senff, 222. 
Senior, 66, 155. 
Seven Davs Battles, 224. 
Sewell's Point, 202. 
Sharpe, 39, 112, 215. 



Index. 



283 



Sharpless, 51. 

Sheffield, 217. 

Sheffield's Plantation, 217. 

Shelley, 230. 

Sherley, Cecilly, Sir Thomas, 224. 

Sherwood, Rachel, 84; William, 24, 
27, 7Z, 74, 75, 76, 79, 82, 83, 84, 85. 
86, 87, 105, 133,. 152, 179, 261, 262, 
263, 265, autograph, 82; plat to 
land on Jamestown Island, 27. 
152, 262. 

Sherwood Forest, 231 ; picture of 
liouse at, 233. 

Shipdam, Edward, 65. 

Shipyards, 196. 

Shirley (Sherley) 185, 215, 224, 225, 
picture of house at, 226. 

Shockoe Hill Cemetery, 89. 

Shooters Hill, 85. 

Shoreham, The, 249. 

Silk, 49, 61, 246. , 

Skififes Creek, 15, 198, 236, 237. 

Skipwith, 63. 

Skore, 20, 21. 

Slavery and Slave Trade, 141, 142, 
183, 186. 

Smith, Abigail, 205, 235 ; Arthur, 
204; Christopher, 157; H. B., 27; 
Jane, 45 ; John, 9, 14, 16, 19, 20, 
31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 48, 74, 85, 100, 
106, III, 116, 120, 153, 158, 191, 
207, 213, 219, 225, 232, 234, 239, 
251, 254; portrait of Capt. John, 
33; Lydia, 157; Roger, 45, 47, 48, 
52, 103, 119, 234; Sarah. 81; Sir 
Thomas, 40, 42, 51, in, 230, 
portrait, 8. 

Smith, Works, ii, 12, 16, 30, 31, 32, 
33, 34, 35, 51, 53, 109. in 116, 117, 
135, 150, 158, 247. 

Smithfield, in, 124, 204. 

Smith's Fort, 206. 

Smith's Hundred, 230, . picture of 
Communion Cup, 230. 

Smith's Island, 254. 

Smth's Map, 142, 202, 241. 

Smith's Mount, 207. 

Smythe, J. F., 192. 

Smyth, John, 225. 

Soane, 27. 

Social conditions, 181-184. 

Society, distinctions in, 196. 

Soldier's Home, 16, 245. 

Somers, 50, 240. 

Southampton, Earl of, 40, 42, SO, 5i, 

54, 202, 230, 245, portrait, 50. 
Southampton Hundred, 230, 231. 
Southampton River, 245. 



Southern, John, 49, 103, 105. 
Southern Literary Messenger, 93, 

94, 95, 114, 179. 
Southwark Parish, 123, 143. 
Spain, I, 2, 4, 6, 51, 251. 
Spanish Armada, 4, 6. 
Spellman, 120. 
Spence, 105, 234. 
Spencer, 49, 50, 108. 
Spotswood, Alexander, 195, 249, 

portrait, 195. 
Spraggon, 57, 123. 
Sprague, American Pulpit, 144. 140, 

148. 
Springs, 160, 242. 
Stacy, 208. 
Stafford, 242. 
Stanford, 206. 
Stanley Hundred, 238. 
Starving Time, 35, 118, 150, 153, 

182, 208. 
State Houses, 22, 58, 78, 108, 123, 

152, 158, 164-180, 263, picture 

of, 167. 
Stegge, Thomas, 170, 171. 
Stephens, Elizabeth, 47. 211; Fran- 
ces, 211 ; Richard, 46, 47, 103, 211 ; 

Samuel, 211. 
St. James Southam parish, 148. 
St. Luke's Church, 204. 
St. Mary's Church, 230, 248. 
St. Stephen's parish, 146. 
Steuben, 90. 

St. Lazvrence, The, 243. 
Steven's Battery, The, 244. 
Stith, 191, 221, 224. 
Stoakes, 239. 
Stockton, 246, 247. 
Stonar, 56. 
Strachev, 11, 24, 36. 37 38, 109, IS4, 

191- . ... 

Strachey, Travaile into Vtrgtma, 

5, 8, II, 12, 16, 17, 20, 154. 
Stratton, 239. 

Strawberry Bank, 2/1=;, 248. 
Sturgeon Point, 15, 231. 
Sturgis, 210. 
Suffrage, 199, 200. 

Suffolk, 203, 204. 
Sully, 151. 
Sunken Marsh, 208. 
Supplies. First, 32, loi, 106, 116, 

181, 22s ; Second, 33, loi, 106, 

no, 116, 117, 153, 181: Third, 

34, 106, 119, 182, 219. 
Surrv County, 198, 205;. 206. 
Swann, Matthew, 113; Sarah, 207; 



284 



Index. 



Samuel, 207 ; Thomas. 71, TZ^ 171, 
206, 207, 265 ; William, 207. 

Svvanu's Point, 29, 59, 71, 206. 

Svvinyards, (Swinhows, Swiniares, 
Swineherds), 14, 229. 

Symonds, 139. 

Syms, Benjamin, 189, 248. 

Syms-Eaton Academy, 189, 248. 

Tabb, 248. 

Taberer, 204. 

Table Diet, 188-189. 

Tanner, 202. 

Tanner's Creek, 202. 

Tanxpowhatan, 15, 219. 

Tanksweyanoke, 229, 230. 

Tapahanah, 12; Indians, 12, 16, 
III ; marsh, 12. 

Tappahannock, 12. 

Tarleton, 24, 218. 

Tatacope, 12. 

Taughaiten, 19. 

Tayloe, 235. 

Taylor, 211, 213. 

Teach (Blackbeard), 249. 

Tedin.sfton. 231. 

Thacher, 83. 

Thacker, 261. 

Thompson, George, 227 ; John R., 
95; Maurice, 227; William, 139. 

Thorny Ridge, 86. 

Thorpe, 213, 221, 225. 

Throckmorton, 225. 

Thurston, 61. 

Tindall, 53. 

Tindall's Point, 71, 115, 252. 

Tindall's Chart, 17. 

Tirchtough, 12. 

Tobacco, culture of, introduced, 40, 
119; raised at Jamestown, 41, 42; 
prevents the growth of, James- 
town, 41, dZ' 197- 

Tobacco Point, 211, 229. 

Tobacco Plant Cutters, 178. 

Tockwogh, 17. 

Tombstones, at Jamestown, 129, 134; 
at Bachelor's Point, 231 ; at Four 
Mrile Tree, 207 ; at Westover, 207 ; 
at Swann's Point, 207 ; at King's 
Creek, 139. 

Tooker, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19. 

Tortugas, 251. 

Totten, 25. 125. 

Totopotomoi, 175. 

Tracv, 213, 225. 

Tragicall Relation, 30 51. 

Traverse. 172. 

Travis Family, 84, 92, 94, 95, 129, 



26s; Amy, 134; Edward, 66, 82, 
83- 89, 134; Champion, 89, 91, 92, 
106; Elizabeth, 82, 89, 134; 
Edward Champion, 86, 89, 105, 
106, 134; autograph, 89; John, 
134; Rebecca, 83, 85; Susannah, 
89, 134- 

Tree, Richard, 50, 55. 

Tree Hill, 219 . 

Tuckahoe, 223. 

Tucker, William, 227, 245, 247. 

Tucker's Hole, 49. 

Turkey Island, 220, 222, 223, 224; 
Creek, 198 ; Bend, 223. 

Tuttey's Neck, 235. 

Twine, John, 121. 

Tyler, John, 95, ii?, 231, portrait, 
96; D. Gardiner, 98; John, Jr., 
126; Samuel, 91, 92, 235. 

Tyler, England in America, 19, 20, 

SI, 115. 

Underbill, 65, 258. 

University at Henrrco, 164. 

Upper Chippokes Creek, 12, 197, 

198, 208. 
Upper Norfolk County, 198. 
Upper and Nether Hundreds, 215. 
Uoton, 234. 

Utie, 161, 168, 205, 231. 
Utopia Bottoms, 235. 
Uttamussick, 11, 19. 

Va. Historical Society, Collections, 

244- 

Fa. Historical Register, 253. 

Va. Land Register, 24, 46, 47, 
48, 49, 50, 54, 56, 68, 78, 112, 114. 
122. 123, 128, 135, 137, 140, 151, 
152, 153, 169, 170, 171, 179, 257. 

Va. Magazine, 26, 43, 52, 57, 
72,, 83, 123, 125, 142, 158, 160, 170, 
171, 179, 196, 244, 253. 

Van Brunt, 243. 

Vander. 44. 

Varina, 120, 144, 221. 

Vehicles, 186-188. 

'^."est, loi. 

Vincenzio, 154. 

Vinedressers, 246, 247. 

Virginia, The, 8, 28, 2>^, 96, 203, 22,7, 
24^ 244. 

Virginia, named by Queen Eliza- 
beth, 4; Indian name for, 21; 
social conditions in, 181-197; 
mortality in, 43, 51, 182; health 
improved, 60; population, 39, 43. 
53, 58, 60, 89, 183, 184; political 



Index. 



285 



conditions, 197-200; education in, 
189-194; criminal code of, 194- 
195 ; manufactures and commerce 
of, 195-196; society in, 196; table 
diet in, 188 ; roads and vehicles, 
186-188; Madison's map of, 2^. 

Waddino", 79, 142, 143. 
Wahunsenacawh, 17. 
Wainman, Sir Ferdinand, 36. 
Wakefield, 87, 88, 143, 208. 
Waldo, loi. 

Walker, 237, 248, 250, 252. 
Waller, 153. 
Walklate, 71. 
Ward, 210. 211, 217. 
Ward's Creek, 210. 
Warden, 145. 

Wareham Ponds, 235, 236. 
Warner Hall, 230. 
Warnett, Thomas, 138. 
Warrascoyack , 12, 16, 198, 204. 
Warrascoyack County, 198, 204. 
Warren, 166, 172. 
Warrington, 250. 

Warwick, 40, 84, 198, 218, 237, 239. 
Warwick Town, 239. 
Washer, 205. 

Washington, 88, 143, 166, 225. 
Watts' Creek, 240. 
Waters, Edward, 240. 
Waters Creek, 240. 
Wayne, 90. 

Weanock (see Weyanoke), 14. 
Webb, 112, 245. 
Webster, 65. 234. 

Weeden,6"or/a/ and Economic His- 
tory of New England, 188, 200. 
Wells, ^3, 38, 93, 246. 
Werowocomoco, 16 17, 20, 31. 
Werrum's Run, 236. 
West, Cecilly, 224; Francis, 39, 52, 

53. loi, 107, 112, 159, 219. 224, 

227; Frances, 211; Henry, 227; 

John, 54. 56, 107, 168, 224, 227; 

Nathaniel, 211, 224, 27, 239; 

Temperance, 158; Thomas, 224, 

227; William, 20. 
West and Sherley-Hundred, 215. 

224, 225. 
Westover, 145, 146, 185, 186, 207, 

210, 225, 227-229, 230, picture of 

house at, 233. 
Westover manuscripts, 191. 
West Point, 17, 19, 227. 
Weyanoke, (Weanok, Wyanoke, 

Wynauk), 14, 15, 16, in, 145, 



211, 212, 213, 229, 230; picture of 

house at, 233. 
Weyanoke Old Town, 14. 
Weyhohomo, 12. 
Weyingopo, 12. 
Weymouth, 7, 10. 
Whaley, 162, 163, 190; Mary, 

autograph, 162. 
Wharton, 131. 
Whitaker, 217. 
Whitby, 218. 
White, 4, 6, 113; Eleanor, 4; John, 

4, 6, 57, 113, 123, 169; William, 

y7, 79, 262. 
Whitgreave, 6^. 
White Oak Swamp, 17. 
Whittingham, in, 223. 
Whittington, 189. 
Wilberforce. 142. 
Wilkinson, William, 248, 262. 
Willcox, 211, 229, 254. 
William HI., 80, 81. 
William and Mary College, 25, 29, 

89. 91, 92, 95, 98, 125, 132, 146, 

147, 148, 149, 157, 162, 186, 190, 

221, 224, 232, 234, 237 ; picture, 

147- 

Williamsburg, 27, 28, 81, 83, 89, 90, 
91, 92, 93, 108, 114, 125, 126, 128, 
143, 145, 146, 147, 162, 179, 187, 
221, 223, 232, 234,, 249. 264. 

William and Mary College Quar- 
terly, 14, 17, 61, 62, 69, 82, 86, 87, 
88, 137, 142, 143, 15s, 161, 163, 
182, 186, 187, 189, 193, 194, 199, 
205, 206, 206, 225, 242, 245. 

Williamson, 82, 83. 

Willoughby Point, 202. 

Wilmington parish, 212. 

Wilton, 220. 

Winder Papers, 184. 

Windmill Point, 211. 

Winganuske, 18. 

Wingfield, 9, 30, 31, 32, 100, 106, 
no, 218. 

Wingfield, Discourse, 31, 32. 

Winue, lOi. 

Winthrop, 139, 190, 191. 

Wirt, William, 125. 

Wise, Henry A., 95, 196; Nicholas, 
202. 

Wissaponson Creek, 254. 

Woddrop, 230. 

Wood. 215. 

Woodford, 203. 

Woodhouse, 65, 169, 171. 

Woodlief, 213, 214, 225. 

Woodlief's plantation, 213. 



Q^. 



286 



Index. 



Woodson's 216. 

Woodward, 62. 

Worden, 243. 

Wormeley, Agatha, 161 ; Christo- 
pher, 142, 251; Frances, 142; 
Ralph, 87, i6r, 245. 

Wowinchopunk, 15, 109, no, 153. 

Wriothesley, Henry, 50, 202, 245. 

Wyatt, Anthony, 213 ; Sir Dudley, 
63 ; Edward, 137 ; Sir Francis, 23, 
43, 45- 47, 51, 52, 56, 57, 84, 102, 
107, 137, 138, 158, 159, 158, 191, 
212, 239, 241, 246, 256; court 
order for, 56; Hawte, 102, 137; 
Henry, 137; George, 137; Mar- 
garet, 102, 158; Nicholas, 213; 
Thomas, 137. 

Wythe, 237, 250, 252. 



/ 



Yates, 148. 

Yeardley, Argall, 102, 158; Eliza- 
beth, 102, 158; George, 36, 40, 41, 
42, 43. 45, 47, 48, 52, 102, 107, 

121, 158, 191, 211, 212, 225, 229, 
230, 234, 238, 254; Francis, 158; 
Temperance, 102. 

Yeocomoco, 252. 

Yonge, Samuel H., 27, 28, 48, 64, 

122, 123, 129, 173. 

York, 140, 161, 166, 186, 198. 
York County, 61, 62, 71, 138, 139, 

141, 142, 162, 184, 190, 237. 
York River, 16, 17, 61, 161. 
Yorktown, 16, 85, 87, 88, 90, 166, 

187, 244. 
Yorkhampton parish, 138. 
Young, John, 162. 
Youghtamund, 17. 



¥f (J! 

.rC966 



■■■«4.\ 



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